


Undercover

by Sazzy260



Series: Danger and Romance [1]
Category: NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Closeted Character, Developing Relationship, It's For a Case, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Psychological Torture, Torture, Undercover As Gay, Undercover as Married, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:37:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sazzy260/pseuds/Sazzy260
Summary: Gibbs and Tony are assigned to work an undercover mission together as a married couple, shipped off to Camp Pendleton in San Diego.  Tony is worried about his secret coming out about being what is their serial-killer's target, the non-militant, and Gibbs is worried about his attraction to Tony interfering with the job.





	1. Chapter 1

“You want us to what?!” Tony shrieked, staring at Director Leon Vance of NCIS with widened eyes, a slight tremble in his hand as the director stared between Tony and Gibbs, who was mindfully silent as the director had explained the new undercover mission that the two men would be going on.

 

Vance sighed through his nose as he leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers together as he looked directly at Tony, “You and Gibbs are needed in San Diego at the marine base to go undercover as a newly married couple.” Vance repeated, blinking a couple of times as he watched Tony squirm restlessly in the leather chair across from his desk.

 

“We’ll do it.” Gibbs said flatly as he stood up, then looked down at Tony and inclined his head towards the door subtly, turning and leaving without another word.  Tony wordlessly followed his boss until the two men were standing in the elevator, Gibbs slapped the red button and the elevator came to an abrupt stop “Are you afraid of ruining your image or something?!” Gibbs growled, glaring at Tony.

 

Tony gaped wordlessly at Gibbs, he hadn’t even thought about the image he’d created for himself for the past twenty years of his life – That of a man who was an all-around playboy with every woman who walked by – the truth of the matter was, he wasn’t at all like that, he’d been gay and knew he was gay for the past thirty years of his life, but he _never_ let anyone know about it, and now… With this case looming over his head, all of his secrets might just come out with it.

 

Gibbs was still staring at Tony, waiting for an answer from the younger agent “No… NO! I’m not afraid of ruining my image…” Tony finally managed to get out of his throat which felt like it was honestly closing up on him.

 

Gibbs nodded and hit the emergency switch again “Good.  Get your head in the game, DiNozzo.” Gibbs said brusquely, slapping the younger agent’s identity folder against his chest as he walked off the elevator and headed to his desk to collect his belongings.  In all actuality, Gibbs too was as nervous as Tony had displayed, he’d had unexplainable feelings for the younger man for as long as he could honestly remember, and knew better than most people at NCIS that Tony was faking his attraction to a majority of the women who had crossed paths with the younger man, he also understood Tony’s apprehension, although no one spoke of it anymore, Tony disliked going on undercover missions that entailed a relationship, the Jeanne Benoit case still lingering in the backs of their minds.

 

Tony walked stiffly to his desk, sitting down almost just as stiffly as he began perusing the file Gibbs had put in his hands a few seconds ago.  Tony shook his head as he read about his new persona – Steven Gray, now Gray-Walker after marrying long-time best friend Daniel Walker.  Tony scoffed slightly, thinking this all sounded more like a terrible joke rather than a case, as he continued reading, he found out that he was a stay-at-home writer who had yet to be published yet but was working towards publishing his first story.  Tony shook his head, anybody who knew Tony, knew that he sucked at writing, the only thing he had accomplished writing decently was reports for the cases he worked on.

 

As Tony started reading in on Gibbs’ persona – Daniel Walker, he found that the persona was much like Gibbs himself, but instead of the Gunnery Sergeant that Gibbs used to be, he would now be a Lieutenant Colonel, and one of two leaders of the 1st Marine Division Recon Unit at Camp Pendleton.  Tony whistled quietly, glancing over at Gibbs who was also reading through the files, his eyebrow was practically hidden behind a curl of his hair as he read, and Tony had to bite back the laughter that wanted to bubble up, thinking that Gibbs had just read his career.  The only thing Tony was relatively happy about was that these were completely made-up characters, and they could build their relationship however they felt like, and weren’t forced to be someone who had already lived their life.

 

Gibbs stood up from his desk and sighed “Let’s go DiNozzo, we’ve got to go get outfitted.” Gibbs said, heading towards the elevator that would lead them down to the lab and autopsy.  Tony quickly got up, grabbing his belongings and following Gibbs who was already standing in the elevator, Tony quickly slid between the closing doors and huffed out a breath.  Gibbs slapped the emergency stop button again and looked over at Tony. “You okay with this?” Gibbs asked, holding up the folder slightly.

 

Tony nodded, grinning slightly “Yes Colonel, I’m satisfied with it.” Tony said softly, his tongue darting out slowly as he wet his lips; he’d always been attracted to Gibbs, and though he’d never publically voice his thoughts, he could swear the older man seemed attracted to him as well, often times he’d catch Gibbs checking him out, but never said anything for fear that he’d not only embarrass Gibbs, but also did not want to endure loss of life by the older man if his assumptions weren’t completely correct.

 

Gibbs nodded as he tapped the button, letting the elevator shaft continue its downward journey where they would collect not only their wardrobes, but their new identifications and credentials that would allow the two men access to Camp Pendleton when they got to California – which Tony was a little excited about, he always loved going to Cali and now they would be going back and since it was the middle of August, it was the perfect time to go and enjoy the autumn air that would be warm almost the entire day.

 

Abby was waiting for the men as they entered the lab, her music already shut off and two duffle bags at her feet “I’m going to miss you guys while you’re gone!” Abby squealed as she enveloped both men in a warm embrace, kissing both of their cheeks softly.

 

Gibbs snorted as he extracted himself from Abby’s embrace and collected both duffle bags – he could at least start to be the gentlemanly husband that he was and carry Tony’s bag – “We’ll miss you too Abby.  We’ll use our alter-ego email accounts to keep in touch, you did make them, right?” Tony asked with a hint of hope in his tone.

 

Abby nodded as she released Tony “Of course I did!  It’s in the notebook in your bag – As well as already set-up on the laptop that you’ll be taking.”  Abby said as she turned around, grabbing the laptop and a sealed envelope that contained their passports, licenses and Pendleton access cards.

 

Tony smiled sadly as he collected both of the offered items, then sighed as he looked around the lab briefly “I think I should get the implanted GPS device.” Tony said quietly, glancing over at Gibbs briefly.  Gibbs nodded his approval and turned to Abby, giving her the nod of approval as well as he headed out of the lab, mumbling that he’d be waiting in the parking garage for the younger man.

 

Ducky came into the lab a few minutes later with a sheathed scalpel in his hand and an alcohol pad “What made you decide that this would be the way to go?” Ducky asked as he collected Tony’s arm and swiped the alcohol pad across his forearm, then made the smallest incision possible all without Tony flinching away from the action.

 

Tony shrugged as Abby came over to him with a small flash-drive like device and carefully pushed it into Tony’s opened wound, placing a bandage over the bleeding scratch “If anything happens to me – I want Gibbs to know where I am at all times… It’s safest this way.” Tony said as he grabbed the laptop, their documents and the GPS locator that Abby was holding out to him now.

 

* * *

 

Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat of the airplane – They’d been in the air for only an hour now, and thankfully they were flying commercially to LA, where they would head to the NCIS LA office to collect their vehicle, their housing instruments (plates, furniture, etcetera) and the base house information to where they would be staying for however long this operation would take place.

 

Gibbs lifted his head from his book and sighed as he looked over at the younger agent “Are you going to fidget the _entire_ flight?” Gibbs asked curiously, almost angrily as Tony shifted yet again, their elbows pressing together as the younger man tried finding a suitable position to sit in.

 

Tony shrugged as he brought one of his legs up onto the edge of the seat and looked out the window as fluffy white marshmallow-like clouds rolled by the window “I don’t know… I don’t exactly fit in these seats with such a lengthy body.” Tony whispered miserably as he tried stretching the cramp out in his knee – The one that had been messed up since his college days.

 

Gibbs furrowed his brows slightly, a slight frown creasing his lips as he set his hand on Tony’s knee and gently rubbed his thumb and forefinger into the cramped muscle.  Tony stiffened and looked at Gibbs who had a seemingly concentrated look on his face “Wha… What are you… doing?” Tony stammered out, his bottom lip trembling slightly in fear.

 

“I’m helping my husband release his aching muscles.” Gibbs said flatly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire world as he pressed both of his hands against Tony’s knee now, continuing to knead tight muscles.

 

Tony sighed in relief as he laid his head back against the seat “Oh… Okay… That… that feels nice.” Tony admitted quietly as the spasm in his knee finally subsided, feeling relief for the first time since they’d taken off from Dulles a little over an hour ago.

 

Gibbs nodded as he slowly released Tony’s knee, crossing one leg over the other and cupping his hands in his lap as he tried hiding the burgeoning erection that had grown almost painfully from even just the minimal contact he’d had with Tony’s body, even if his skin was covered by thick denim.

 

Tony smiled contentedly as he closed his eyes, shifting to the most comfortable position he could find in the hard leathered aircraft seat, his hand blindly pulling down the window-cover to block out the blinding sunlight.  Gibbs smirked slightly as he hailed a passing flight attendant, nodding towards Tony silently – The flight attendant seemed to understand the subtle request and smiled warmly as she headed to the flight supplies, coming back a few seconds with a neatly folded blanket.  Gibbs nodded his thanks and undid the blanket, carefully lying it over Tony’s body and tucking the edges around the younger agent, Tony mumbled incoherently and snuggled into the warmth of the blanket, the thought of Gibbs playing the doting husband was funny, but he wouldn’t voice those opinions because it was actually quite nice seeing a side to Gibbs that only a few privileged people have ever seen of the man.

 

Gibbs sighed quietly as he glanced down the aisle briefly, then turned back to the book he’d set aside in the seat holder in front of him – He grabbed the paperback and flipped open to the page, and although he looked as if he were reading the book, he really wasn’t.  This case had been on his mind since they left NCIS two hours ago.  It wasn’t so much the fact that he would have to pose as Tony – Steven’s – husband for however long the case would play out, no… It was the fact that Tony was ultimately the target, seeing that he was the non-military partner of the duo.  Gibbs thought back to the casefile; over the past year, since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” had been repealed married or dating homosexual couples had started coming out, and then the partners of the service women and men started disappearing and were found dead days later, at first the connection hadn’t been made between the victims, but once the last victim – a Gunnery Sergeants husband, Scott Warner – was found with his husband’s service number tattooed on his shoulder, the pieces of all the victims fell into place and that was when NCIS was contacted.

 

Each victim had been held for an estimated four days, where they were kept without food or water, tortured and raped before ultimately they were killed and dumped just a quarter mile away from Camp Pendleton, left there naked and exposed for whomever drove past to see them.  Gibbs shook his head as he put the book back in the holder and curled up in the small seat, lying his head against Tony’s arm that was perched on the armrest between them, he really didn’t think it all that weird, seeing as they were meant to be a married couple.  If he could get at least a few hours of shut-eye before they landed in LA, then he would be good to go and wouldn’t have to consciously think about the case until they were submerged into it in approximately seven hours.

 

* * *

 

Tony stretched out his stiffened knee as he stared at what looked like an abandoned building, the sign on the wooden door out front reading ‘ _Condemned_ ’ “Are you sure this is the right place?” Tony asked skeptically as he shook his knee out and then straightened, glancing over at Gibbs who was eyeing the door with that look that could practically melt gold with its intensity.

 

Gibbs grunted and nodded his head as he walked over to the door and pushed it open abruptly, Tony had no choice but to follow his boss inside of the building, he wouldn’t leave the older man alone to brave a condemned building.  Tony went wide-eyed as he stared at the vastly open space with tropical plants and bright cheerful colors that mixed and mingled with delicately polished wooden pillars “Wow…” Tony breathed out as he looked around the NCIS LA Office “ _Why_ can’t we have this?!” Tony questioned, blowing out a frustrated breath as he quickly caught up to Gibbs who was standing in front of a woman who couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, if not shorter.

 

“Agent DiNozzo, Agent Gibbs, it is nice to see you once again.” Henrietta Lange said, grinning impishly as she looked up at both men, holding out a set of keys to Gibbs.  “Those are the keys for both the car, moving van and the base house that has been assigned to you.  There are two sets of the car key and house key for you and agent DiNozzo.” Hetty added, dropping the keys into Gibbs’ extended hand.

 

Gibbs nodded as he closed his hand around the keys and shoved them into his pocket “Are the secured lines already set up and ready to go?” Gibbs asked, glancing over his shoulder at Tony who was still looking around the building with an awed expression on his face.

 

Hetty nodded her head “Yes.” She said simply as she pulled two cellphones out of her pocket, one a basic flip phone and the other a smart phone “The secured number is already pre-programmed in both phones, under the guise of your DAT number.” Hetty said as she handed both phones to Gibbs as well.

 

Gibbs nodded as he thrusted the smart phone into Tony’s chest gently “Good.” He replied, even though he had no idea what a DAT was, nor did he care as he pocketed the ancient device into his pocket, withdrawing his everyday phone from his pocket and setting it on Hetty’s desk “DiNozzo, phone and gun on the desk.  We have to get going.” Gibbs barked as he turned on his heel and headed for the door that they had come in only ten minutes ago.

 

Tony balked slightly at the order, but he knew that a lowly home-husband who was just a writer had no need for a weapon, so with much reluctance he withdrew his service weapon and it’s holster, setting both on the desk, then followed by his cellphone which he had an easier time setting down than the gun.  With one last glance at his beloved weapon, he quickly turned on his heel, waving goodbye to Hetty as he ran out to catch up with Gibbs who was already sitting in the moving van – the positive thing about moving onto the base was that they already had pre-purchased furniture except for bedding, so that was what had been packed in the van, alongside several creature comforts that Tony and Gibbs both requested before even leaving DC.

 

Gibbs handed Tony the key to the vehicle that was parked behind the van “Be careful with it, and try not to lose me… I’m not entirely sure where the hell we’re going…” Gibbs warned as he fisted the key in Tony’s hand, holding both the younger man’s hand and eyes for several seconds.

 

Tony nodded as he pulled his hand away and quickly moved to the Dodge Durango, even as the blush creeped up his neck and cheeks while he inserted the address to their new home in the GPS system that was sitting on the dashboard.  He had no idea why Gibbs had been acting so strange since they’d left DC, but it was both flattering and unnerving at the same time.  Tony pulled out of the building driveway slowly, checking his rearview mirror to make sure Gibbs was right behind him as he began driving towards the marked route that would lead them to Camp Pendleton.

 

* * *

 

Two hours later Tony pulled up to a two-story home that looked exactly like the past several homes that they had passed, there was at least a good distance between each of their neighbors so that they could be themselves when they were inside the home – Tony only hoped that the inside of the house had more character than the outside of the tan colored home.

 

Gibbs pulled backwards into the driveway and cut the engine off on the van, Tony quickly got out and joined Gibbs in the driveway “So… This is home, huh?” Tony asked quietly, looking around the neighborhood that was littered with kids playing and watchful parents sitting on their porches.

 

Gibbs nodded as he slid his arm around Tony’s waist and grinned down at the younger man, Tony had a panicked look on his face but only for a brief moment before he settled into the touch, remembering that they were meant to be a married couple he returned the gesture, lying his head on Gibbs’ shoulder.  Thankfully the awkward moment only lasted for a few seconds when Gibbs pulled away “Alright, let’s get everything inside…” Gibbs grumbled as he went to the back of the van and pulled the doors open.

 

Tony quickly went back to the Durango, grabbing the two packed duffle bags they’d brought with them from DC, and then two more duffle bags that had been given to them at the LA Office, they didn’t know what was in the two other duffle bags, but they weren’t heavy, so Tony assumed it had to probably be more clothes.  Tony then grabbed the laptop that Abby had gave to him, hoping that once they got unpacked he could email the lab technician and tell her all that has happened since getting on the airplane seven hours ago, since she was the _only_ person who knew about Tony’s attraction to Gibbs, and would have advice regarding his hesitations about being in the same house with the older man.

 

When Tony glanced over at the van, Gibbs was gone and the front door to the house was already open, so Tony high-tailed it inside and gasped when he saw the wide open layout of their new home, even as it was split by the staircase that led to the second story.  On the left side of the house was opened to a den that could easily be used as Tony’s ‘home office’ and opened up straight to the dining room that could easily seat twelve people around the large oblong table.  The right side of the house opened up to a tastefully decorated living room, which surrounded the focal point of the large marble fireplace and the huge flat screen TV that Tony estimated to be _at least_ sixty inches, and beyond that was a _large_ gourmet kitchen that made Tony’s mouth water – he hadn’t been able to truly use his cooking skills since starting work at NCIS twelve years ago and now he had a chance and was extremely excited about the prospect that he could showcase his skills in the kitchen for Gibbs.

 

Gibbs shook his head as he walked over to Tony, lightly cuffing the younger man’s neck and smiling “Honey, if you keep staring like this, we will never get the unpacking done.” Gibbs said in an uncharacteristically sweet tone as he winked at the younger man and walked back out to the van.

 

Tony blinked a few times and then shook himself mentally as he bounded upstairs to the second floor, where again he was shocked to find the place relatively open, even for a three bedroom home – Two bedrooms to the right, and the master bedroom to the left – there was also a large sitting room in between the separation of the two sides of the house and another large television mounted on the wall “STEVEN!  You have time to explore later, come on!” Gibbs shouted from downstairs, noticing that Tony had yet again stalled in his movements to stare in awe at the house.

 

Tony shook his head and quickly deposited the four duffle bags on the couch – He could sort through them later, after he helped Gibbs get everything inside the house.  Tony quickly bounded down the stairs and out to the van where Gibbs was waiting so they could move the bed into the home.

 

A little over an hour later, the van was finally unpacked, and the house was settled with all their belongings.  Gibbs and Tony both collapsed tiredly against the couch, their sweat slicked knees pressing together as they spread out “A cold beer sounds so good right now.” Tony murmured as he swiped his sleeve on his sweaty forehead, huffing out a breath of air.

 

Gibbs chuckled and nodded his head “To bad we don’t have any… In fact, we don’t have _any_ groceries…” Gibbs said, turning his head towards the large expanse of the kitchen and frowning slightly “And I could really do with some good food right now.” Gibbs said, rubbing his stomach, even as it growled to emphasis his statement.

 

Tony nodded and smiled shyly “Food does sound good – Can we afford to go out to eat?” Tony asked, turning to look over at Gibbs, his smile broadening slightly.

 

Gibbs grinned, “Well why not check that bank account information out?  There should be an allowance in there already…” Gibbs said as he sat up slightly, grabbing the envelope that contained the rest of their falsified information.

 

Tony quickly deposited the information on his lap, rifling through the pages until he came across the bank account information, he then collected his newly acquired cellphone, downloading the bank app and inputting the information “Wow… there’s like ten grand in there, how did we manage to accumulate so much?” Tony asked, looking wide-eyed at Gibbs and the cellphone.

 

Gibbs shrugged “Base pay for over twenty-five years of service for an O-3 Captain is over six grand a month, and I guess we’re very conscious about spending money…” Gibbs said as he pushed himself up from the couch, then hoisted Tony up to his feet “Let’s go get showered and changed, then we’ll see what’s around here to eat.” Gibbs said resolutely as he headed upstairs with Tony only a few steps behind him as they separated to use the bathrooms and get ready.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony smiled as he put the last of the groceries away in the cupboard; he’d just spent the last three hours at the base PX, gathering necessities that he and Gibbs would need throughout their stay in Pendleton.  Tony sighed as he looked around the living room, mental checklist running through his mind – He’d started dinner, emailed Abby, he went grocery shopping, made up the bed for himself, since Gibbs said he would take the couch, now he honestly had nothing to do.

 

Tony glanced out the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, noticing the bright clear blue sky and the warm bright sunshine beaming out onto the lush green grass “A walk around the base… That would definitely get people interested…” Tony mused out loud, he did hate that Gibbs was able to go to work while he sat at home and practically did nothing all day, and knew that boredom would likely eat at him if he didn’t get out and do _something_.

 

So, ten minutes later, donning a pair of abnormally short shorts and a too-tight tank top, Tony began walking down his pathway and then the sidewalk itself, glancing around the beautifully manicured neighborhood that he and Gibbs were living in “Hey!” a woman’s voice called from the house next door.

 

Tony smiled warmly as he walked the few short steps to the next driveway “Hey, how’re you doing?” Tony asked in a chipper tone, continuing to move his feet to give the illusion that he was walking for exercise and not just out of sheer boredom.

 

The woman smiled back at Tony “I’m fine, thanks!  You’re the new guy in town huh?” she asked, holding her hand out to Tony “I’m Stephanie, my husband is Captain Derrick Welch with the 1st Tank Battalion.” Stephanie said by way of introduction.

 

Tony shook Stephanie’s hand and looked around briefly “Steven Gray.  My… husband is Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Walker, with the Recon division.” Tony said as he finally stopped moving his feet, glancing around the street one more time before refocusing on Stephanie, “And yeah, we’re new in town – just got PCS’d here from Quantico.” Tony said softly, it wasn’t too far from the truth at least, they were only a short distance from Quantico in the grand scheme of things.

 

Stephanie nodded as she turned back towards her house where two children were coming outside, a little girl around the age of five or six and a boy around the age of seven or eight “Well, I have to get going – Maybe we can get together later and talk some more?” Stephanie suggested as she grabbed the mail from her mailbox quickly.

 

Tony nodded his head “Sure, sounds like fun!” Tony said in a chipper tone, waiting until Stephanie had gotten into her car before he continued walking down the sidewalk, his eyes constantly scanning the area, he placed his earbuds in his ear to avoid talking to further nosy neighbors, not that he wouldn’t mind getting to know the rest of the neighbors, he just honestly wanted to get a feel for his surroundings before getting cozy with the rest of the people living here.

 

A few hours later, Tony finally stopped walking, having come upon one of the many training grounds for the marines, he’d read the small posting that said this specific training ground was ‘home to the recons’ and Tony had actually hoped he would see Gibbs here, but the field was particularly barren except for the crows that were pecking at the ground off in the distance.  Tony sighed as he sat on one of the benches, stretching out his stiff knee as he continued looking out at the field, a loud pounding of feet began rolling over the hill and Tony could see the start of bobbing heads coming over the hill as well.

 

Gibbs was off to the side of a group of twenty or more men, screaming his lungs out like a drill sergeant would as he ran with the group of men.  Tony grinned widely as he watched Gibbs in his true element – The rarity of this was astounding, Gibbs was wearing a pair of desert camo cargo pants, an olive drab t-shirt and his entire chest was drenched in sweat and mud, but the older man didn’t look even a bit winded as he continued screaming and running simultaneously, and if he could get a closer look at the older man, he would swear on everything that Gibbs had a look of pure enjoyment and perhaps a bit of saddened nostalgia over missed opportunities from his military career ending far before the older man had hoped for.

 

When Gibbs’ eyes connected with Tony on the far end of the field, the older man turned to his second in command, saying something to the slightly younger recon marine who nodded his head.  Gibbs darted across the field and stood in front of Tony, and now that they were face-to-face Tony could see that Gibbs was quite literally covered in head-to-toe in mud “Jesus Christ Dan… You’re soaking wet!” Tony complained, using Gibbs’ UC name since they were out in public, even if nobody was around them at the moment.

 

Gibbs shrugged, shaking his mud-covered head and letting droplets of muddy water fly all over “Yeah, I know!  It’s such an amazing feeling!  We were running down a hill, and we all ended up sliding down the hill in the mud!” Gibbs said, grinning enthusiastically – Tony blinked a couple of times as he stared at his boss, he’d never seen the man so happy before and it actually sent a pang of guilt through Tony’s stomach that Gibbs had never looked so relaxed before when they were at NCIS.

 

“That… Sounds exciting…” Tony offered lamely as he drew his legs up onto the table, rubbing at his knee as he looked up into Gibbs’ brilliant blue eyes, and Tony could honestly say that he saw nothing but elation in the powder blue eyes of his… husband, Tony thought internally “You look so happy here.” Tony whispered, reaching a hand forward and grasping lightly onto Gibbs’ hand now that they had people staring at them as they ran past the duo to head towards the showers.

 

Gibbs leaned in, careful not to touch Tony’s body with his own as to keep the mud off Tony’s white tank top “So, what are you doing here?  Isn’t it safer if you stayed at the house while I’m here?” Gibbs whispered, and the usual brash tone that Tony expected was severely lacking as the warmth of Gibbs’ words caressed the shell of his ear.

 

Tony had to suppress the shudder that clenched his internal organs as he nodded “Yes… It’s safer, but I was absolutely _bored_ after I finished all the things that I needed to do today.” Tony said just as quietly, but not nearly as confident as he’d hoped, since even through the sweat and mud, Gibbs’ natural scent permeated from the older man’s body and assaulted Tony’s senses – Bourbon, Coffee and Sawdust, permanently engrained on Gibbs’ skin.

 

Gibbs grinned as he felt the slight tremor of Tony’s entire body – He’d been right about Tony being attracted to him, but he knew he wouldn’t say anything, not until Tony said something first.  “I guess I could understand that, I know I’d be bored if all I had to do was sit around and enjoy not having to chase bad guys around the continent.” Gibbs said quietly as he sat down beside Tony, noticing the younger man was still massaging his knee, “Is your knee bothering you again?” Gibbs asked, concern lacing his voice as his fingers twitched slightly, he seriously just wanted to grab Tony’s knee and massage it again, to feel the firm warmth of Tony’s exposed flesh, since he was wearing obscenely short shorts.

 

Tony nodded “Yeah, I walked all the way over here since I don’t have the car… Never realized how large the base was until I started walking.” Tony said quietly, wincing as he pressed into a particularly tense spot on his knee.

 

“Well, I could drive you back to the house – We’re on break for two hours while we shower and get some chow…” Gibbs suggested, glancing over his shoulder towards where the parked vehicles were across the field.

 

Tony nodded again as he slid off the bench slowly, biting back his bottom lip as he put pressure down against his leg “Sounds good – But you are _not_ getting in the car with all that mud on you.” Tony said firmly as he started towards the black SUV, only a slight limp to his walk.

 

Gibbs caught up to Tony, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s thighs and lifted the younger man up.  Tony shrieked, looking down at Gibbs with widened eyes “What the hell are you doing?!” Tony questioned loudly, squirming slightly in the older man’s grasp even as he was carried over to the SUV.

 

“You’re in pain and I’m not letting my husband walk the long distance to the car.” Gibbs said plainly as he continued walking unaffectedly as Tony continued squirming in his arms, a bright white grin shining through the dried and caked on mud on his face as he looked up at Tony.

 

Tony rolled his eyes as he stopped fighting Gibbs’ hold on his body “Fine, but you and I need to _seriously_ discuss boundaries.” Tony grumped as he let Gibbs carry him the remaining distance to the car, then with a gentleness he hadn’t even known Gibbs possessed, he was set back onto his feet and Gibbs smiled up at Tony from his crouched position.

 

“Do we have too?  I mean… We’re supposed to be madly in love with each other, and I would be a terrible husband if I didn’t help you when you needed it.” Gibbs said quietly, fiddling with the string of his boots, illusion of tying a loose lace.

 

Tony snorted as he reached forward, lightly ruffling Gibbs’ muddy silver hair “Perhaps we won’t… I’m not entirely sure yet.  Now come on, we don’t have a whole lot of time to get some lunch in you.” Tony quipped as he opened his door and climbed into the passenger seat.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he stood up, rounding the front of the SUV and getting in behind the wheel “Thought you didn’t want my mud covered body in the vehicle?” Gibbs asked, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking space.

 

Tony shrugged “Leather seats are relatively easy to clean, and these floor mats are surprisingly good at collecting the mud and rocks and what not, and easier to clean than the seats.” Tony said as he leaned back as far as his seat would go, his fingers ceaselessly moving across his knee.

 

* * *

 

After Gibbs returned back to work, Tony collected his laptop and went to sit outside on the front porch on the padded bench seat.  Keeping his attentions divided between his laptop and his surroundings, he opened the email application and sighed as he scrolled through the several messages that had filled up his inbox already – Seems Abby had given out his email address to everyone on the team already.

 

_Hey Stevie,_

_I gave Timmy, Ziva, and Ducky and Jimmy your email so that they could talk to you and keep you from completely losing your mind!  How are you holding up?  Is it really boring there?  Are you ready to kill Danny yet?  Or is he ready to kill you yet?  Has he already killed you?  Gosh I hope not… I really miss you here, it’s so quiet and Tim is trying to be like you with witty comments and stuff, but it’s just so weird hearing him making jokes about Heather in HR, they aren’t that funny either – But don’t tell him I said that, I wouldn’t want to ruin his ego!  Okay, I have to go now, but message me back as soon as possible._

_Love, Abbs._

Tony shook his head as he poised his fingers on the keyboard, glancing around his surroundings several times before replying to the email;

 

_Hey Abbs,_

_I see that you’ve given everyone my email – I appreciate the sentiment.  I’m holding up pretty good so far, and yes, it is extremely boring here but I’m sure I’ll find something to do while I’m here.  No, I’m not ready to kill Danny, nor is he ready to or has he killed me… It’s really kind of weird actually, he’s been acting so out of character from the man we know, it’s like Pendleton has opened up a side to him that he wasn’t able to express at Quantico, and it’s really baffling – We’ll have to talk about that later when I can call you though… Tell Tim to leave the jokes to someone who knows how to handle them, he’s not gotten to that level just yet!  Talk to you later Abbs._

_Love, Stevie._

Tony sighed as he pressed the send button, sometimes he really hated being undercover and having to ‘lie’ about what was going on in his life, but they didn’t know who they were dealing with in regards to their serial killer so it was better to be safe than sorry in the end if the suspect was tech savvy and knew how to hack into emails.

 

Tony glanced through the other emails sent from the rest of the team, noting they were all relatively the same, wishing him luck at the new post and generally complaining about what one or the other of the team were doing that was beyond annoying to them, he closed his laptop and laid his head back against the padded arm of the bench, staring up at the awning of the front porch as he thought about how he would endure the remaining time here, even though nobody knew how long he and Gibbs would be on this case.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs shook his head as he parked the SUV in the driveway, it was close to seven at night now and Tony was still out on the porch, fast asleep with the laptop hugged tightly to his chest.  Gibbs hopped out of the SUV and bounded up the steps, hovering over Tony’s body “Steve…” Gibbs said quietly, shaking the younger man’s shoulder.

 

Tony jolted awake, quickly grabbing Gibbs’ wrist in a painful vice grip, he blinked a few times in confusion, clearing the sleep from his eyes as he looked up at Gibbs “Oh… Sorry Dan…” Tony said sheepishly as he released Gibbs’ wrist and stood up, tucking the laptop against his side, adverting his eyes from the gaze he was sure to be firing daggers at him from the older man.

 

Gibbs sighed as he set his hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed lightly “Hey… Its okay – What are you doing sleeping outside?  Come on, let’s go in.” Gibbs said reassuringly as he guided the younger man into the house and shut the door behind them.

 

Tony flinched slightly as he expected a shouting match to start, but when Gibbs only looked at him expectantly, seemingly waiting for an answer to his earlier question, Tony visibly relaxed “I honestly didn’t mean to fall asleep outside… I was just so bored, and I guess I just dozed off after emailing Abby.” Tony said as he set the laptop down on the table next to the front door.

 

Gibbs nodded as he glanced around the room, sniffing the air slightly “Something smells good – Did you cook?” Gibbs asked as he headed towards the kitchen, Tony trailing behind him.

 

“Yeah, I made a slow cooker lasagna that I learned when I was younger…” Tony said, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched Gibbs lift the lid off the crock pot and inhale the scent that wafted out of the pot, an appreciative moan escaping the older man’s mouth.

 

“Wow that smells absolutely incredible Tony.” Gibbs praised as he rummaged through the cabinets for plates and utensils “Are you hungry?” Gibbs asked, glancing over his shoulder at Tony before he began spooning a heaping mound of lasagna onto his own plate, Tony nodded as he went to the fridge, grabbing two bottles of beer.  Gibbs spooned an equal heaping mound of lasagna onto the second plate, and then he and Tony sat side-by-side on the bar stools that were in front of the island.

 

Tony twisted the caps off the beers and handed Gibbs one of them “To surviving our first day at Camp Pendleton.” Tony toasted, grinning slightly at the irony of his words – he’d known that Gibbs was stationed here in Pendleton for four years when he was fresh out of boot camp, but that was also over thirty years ago, and was a whole new experience for the both of them since they were taking on new roles.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he clinked the neck of his bottle against Tony’s and smiled at the younger man “So, did you manage to make any friends today?” Gibbs asked conversationally as he shoveled a bite of the lasagna into his mouth, and as Tony opened his mouth to respond, Gibbs groaned in pleasure “Oh my god DiNozzo… This is fucking incredible!” Gibbs raved as he turned his head to look at Tony with wide eyes.

 

Tony blushed furiously as he looked down at his plate “Th…thanks.” Tony croaked out, idly plucking at the label on his beer bottle, “I uh… I met the lady next door – Stephanie Welch – her husband is in the 1st Tank Battalion.” Tony said, quickly changing the topic and shoving a mouthful of lasagna into his mouth.

 

Gibbs nodded, raising an eyebrow as he turned back to his own plate – he’d always hated whenever Tony would avoid well-deserved praise, and wished to whatever deity that he could somehow change that over the course of the next few days, weeks, or even months, while they were on this case.  “Tank Bat is good, they’re also deployed right now – She mention anything about what has been going on around here?” Gibbs asked as he continued to eat his meal.

 

Tony shook his head, still keeping his eyes downward “No… She didn’t have much time, her kids were late for school.” Tony said quietly as he finally shoved his half-eaten meal away from him and stood up “I’m going to go upstairs and take a shower.” Tony said as he quickly escaped from the kitchen, practically tripping on his own feet as he bolted up the stairs.

 

Gibbs sighed as he finished off his plate and beer, grabbing a second one from the fridge as he headed into the living room, he stared at the blank screen of the television and listened to the muffled words coming from upstairs – He could hear that Tony was nervously rambling to himself, but couldn’t make out the words since the younger man seemed to be speaking Italian.  Gibbs shook his head and relaxed into the embrace of the leather sectional sofa and grabbed the remote off the arm of the couch – he had reserves about trying to mess with what looked like a highly technical contraption, but when he looked the remote over, it was rather basic; Power button, channel and volume button and the numbers.  Gibbs shrugged and could have whooped in joy when the TV actually turned on and didn’t explode.

 

* * *

 

At around two in the morning, Gibbs woke up to hear long stepped strides coming from upstairs, Gibbs shook his head and – although he knew it was probably just Tony – grabbed his service weapon from underneath the pillow as he stealthily began walking up the stairs.  He peaked around each corner of the stairwell, noticing the door to Tony’s bedroom was slightly ajar, he slunk down the hall and stood just outside of the door.

 

“I know Abs, but I can’t just blurt out that I love him and expect the man to just accept my words… Can I?” Tony questioned – Gibbs smiled slightly as he leaned back against the wall, he knew eaves dropping was wrong, but this is how he always got his information and why stop now when things needed to be heard at the moment.

 

“Abby, seriously if he _ever_ found out – he would probably kill me… No, it doesn’t matter that he’s been sweet and caring to me ever since we left DC – we’re playing a role here and he’s supposed to be my husband and best friend… Of course I do, I always have loved him Abs, but… I don’t know… there’s just something… so different about him now that we’re here… He’s more energetic and enthusiastic… It’s really just kind of mind-blowing to have seen this transformation take place in only twenty-four hours.” Tony continued, finally ceasing his pacing as he sat down on the bed.

 

“Definitely don’t miss the way he is at the office – This… nice Gibbs… is well… nice… if we could stay here in Pendleton forever, even if our names and marriage is fake… I would do it in a heartbeat Abby…” Tony said, sighing as he curled up at the foot of the bed.

 

Gibbs glanced through the crack in the door, frowning slightly at the younger man who was laid out on the mattress – He had to do something about this, if Tony liked having this happy-spirited side of him showing, then that was what he’d have to do in order to get the younger man to confess his attraction to him, face-to-face.  What did strike him as odd though was the shift in his enthusiasm, he hadn’t felt this alive and invigorated since he’d left the Marine Corps after Shannon and Kelly died, and it could be that perhaps he was playing a role he’d once saw himself as thirty some odd years ago, or perhaps it was a mixture of being here with Tony and doing the Recon thing… One thing he did know was, it had absolutely nothing to do with the case that they were working on.

 

“Yeah Abby, I’ll call you tomorrow – But not this early in the morning… You shouldn’t even be awake this early! Oh… Sorry about that… Yeah, I’ll tell him that you miss him… NO!  I will not say that to him… Because… I’m… I’m just not comfortable saying the L word in front of him… No… Maybe someday, but today is _not_ that day… Goodnight Abby.” Tony said and abruptly hung up the phone, tossing it onto the mattress behind him and huffing out a breath of air as he wrapped his arms around his legs and curled even further in on himself.

 

Gibbs stayed in the doorway long after Tony had finally moved to the top of the bed and fell asleep, just staring at the younger man as his chest slowly rose and fell with his steady breathing, the slight snore that echoed out into the hall made Gibbs smile – He’d heard several times over the years from Kate and Ziva that Tony snored obscenely loud, but any time he’d been in the same sleeping quarters with the younger man, he always snored quietly and it was barely audible if you weren’t exactly trying to listen to the breathy noises that Tony made.

 

Gibbs quietly headed back down the stairs after just staring at Tony for ten minutes, he tucked away his service weapon and stared across the room and into the empty fireplace as he thought about how he would have to somehow get Tony to open up to him and finally express the feelings that the younger man had towards him.  Even he knew it could very well be impossible, and perhaps he was even slightly afraid of how it might turn out, but Tony did say that maybe someday he’d be able to say that he loved him, so that did give Gibbs all the encouragement he needed to start setting his wooing tactics into motion while they worked this case – Who would doubt a husband showering the love of their life with the things that his partner loved anyway?  Nobody, that’s who – and it would only aid in moving their case along, both personal and professional.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, you guys are probably like "Oh my gosh, where's the actionnnn!?" Well - It's coming, believe me it is... I'm building to it and soon enough the men will be dealing with things, but... Fluff and stuff is always nice before the hurt and angst accompanies them, like it always does.
> 
> Now I must retire to sleeping as it is four in the morning here - More to come tomorrow, so stay tuned! And don't forget to leave me your reviews on what you think! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Days went by easily as Gibbs and Tony settled into a decent routine – Not that Tony thought that sitting at home and travelling to the PX every other day was decent – Gibbs was quickly building a rapport with the members of his unit, and even found out that some of them were also either bisexual or gay, but with the knowledge of the serial killer being somewhere on or near the base, they’d kept their relationships – if they were in one – away from the base and often frequented a club that wasn’t too far from Pendleton to meet up with their boyfriends.

 

It was the weekend, they’d only been here for a week and Tony was quite literally ready to crawl out of his skin because of how bored he was “Gibbs, is there _any_ possibility that I could get a job?  Even if it’s just at the PX – I cannot stay in this house _any_ longer!” Tony complained as he watched Gibbs do something with the car’s engine, luckily they were in the garage so they didn’t have to fall back on their undercover names at this point.

 

Gibbs looked up with grease stains covering his cheeks “I’m… I’m not sure Tony, this isn’t my case to begin with – You’d have to talk to Hetty and see if she couldn’t get the okay from Vance about that…” Gibbs said, swiping his hands on a rag as he ducked back into the engine compartment “I was invited to go out to a bar tonight with some of the guys – They want to meet you, think you’d be okay with that?” Gibbs asked, his voice slightly muffled from him being bent inside the front of the car.

 

Tony nodded his head enthusiastically – even though he knew the older man couldn’t see it – “Yes!  Yes absolutely!  I would definitely be okay with that!” Tony said with just as much enthusiasm as his rapidly nodding head, his mind now reeling with the thought of what he’d wear out.  One thing he was exponentially grateful for was the array of clothing that was packed on his behalf – half of the clothes were tasteful and fit well with the bookworm-type that he was meant to be, and the other half was Abby’s personal ‘Tony Collection’ as she dubbed it, and would fit well with his true personality of being the out-going party-person.

 

“Good.  Make sure you wear something nice – I want you to look extra good when I introduce you to these guys.” Gibbs said as he lifted up again and slammed the hood of the SUV shut, turning to grin at Tony.

 

Tony smiled shyly and nodded his head “I can do that, no problem boss.” Tony said as he turned and headed for the door leading back into the house, only to be stopped when Gibbs called to him “Yeah?” he asked, a slight blush crossing his cheeks at the soft way that Gibbs had called his name.

 

“You can call me Jethro, you know… when we’re here alone the house… I won’t be mad about it.” Gibbs said, almost shyly as he wiped his face and hands on the rag and then tossed it over his shoulder and headed into the house, leaving Tony to stand there with his mouth halfway opened, ready to say something.

 

* * *

 

When it was time to leave for the bar, Tony came down the steps wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a pale pink short sleeved button up shirt that was unbuttoned and showing a patch of curled brown chest hairs “How do I look?” Tony asked as he did a small twirl with a smile on his face.

 

Gibbs nodded approvingly as he held his hand outward to Tony, smiling a bit as the younger man readily accepted the proffered hand “You look incredible, pink actually suits you quite nicely.” Gibbs complimented as he collected his wallet and walked with Tony out towards the SUV, their hands still connected as he opened the door for him.

 

Tony quickly released Gibbs’ hand and hopped into the SUV, hoping the darkness of night would hide the blush that was now covering his entire face – He felt foolish, and a lot like a teenage girl with all the compliments he’d been receiving lately from Gibbs, it was so unusual and what’s more was that he wasn’t used to being showered with gifts either.

 

Over the past five days, Gibbs had brought home a bouquet of Tony’s favorite flowers – Sunflowers – his favorite chocolates, ice creams, and somehow the man had even found and brought home an authentic New York styled pizza with all of Tony’s favorite toppings – he hadn’t even known that Gibbs knew all these things about him and he felt incredibly foolish for not having noticed before how much the man actually knew about him.

 

Tony of course knew all of Gibbs’ favorite things as well, having studied and pined after the man for the past twelve years of his life, but he’d never made a conscious decision to use this knowledge to his advantage, and he could have kicked himself for not doing so sooner.  Everything felt so surreal to Tony at this point, the lines between reality and roleplaying seemed to be crossing and although it has happened to him before in the past – Jeanne Benoit – this time things felt oddly different, like the changes that were occurring between the two of them could somehow mean something more, that something between them could actually become real once the case was wrapped up.

 

Gibbs smiled as he glanced over at Tony as he drove off the base, he had noticed the blush that had tinged Tony’s tanned complexion to a near cherry red color and it made his heart swell with an immensely satisfying feeling that all of his efforts towards subtly wooing the younger man were actually having the effect that he was hoping for.  Tony had been more open to compliments already and, although he still flushed with embarrassment from them, he was more vocal with thanking Gibbs and was no longer adverting his eyes when they would look at one another.

 

At the same time, both Tony and Gibbs reached towards the dial for the volume on the stereo system, “Sorry…” Tony murmured as he pulled his hand back, a small smile gracing his features as Gibbs turned up the stereo a little, letting the soothing sounds of one of Tony’s Frank Sinatra CD’s fill the space of their SUV.  Tony stared out the window, wordlessly singing along to the words that Frank sung, his fingers tapping out the rhythm on the door handle.

 

Gibbs watched as Tony’s fingers methodically moved along his thigh and the door – His next venture would to be somehow getting Tony a piano in the house, he knew the younger man enjoyed playing, and if he could find somewhere that had Baby Grand’s for relatively cheap, he would definitely put down whatever money he could to satisfy the young savant’s need for a musical outlet, and perhaps that would also quell Tony’s boredom at least by a little bit if he couldn’t get a job outside of the home.

 

* * *

 

Tony’s eyes lit up when Gibbs pulled into the parking lot of the off base club, he’d heard about _Pec’s Bar_ and the reviews about it were all relatively the same, claiming that the bartenders were always attentive and the place was a great place to hang out “You know this is a gay bar, right?” Tony asked hesitantly, looking over at Gibbs as the older man parked the car.

 

Gibbs nodded slightly “Yeah, I know.  We have to start somewhere Tony, may as well start here…” Gibbs said as he got out of the SUV and headed to the front of the car, waiting for Tony to gather himself and join him at his side.

 

Gibbs and Tony walked into the bar, their fingers lightly entwining together – Another thing that was oddly comforting to Tony was the fact that Gibbs didn’t seem at all ashamed of holding his hand while they were out in public settings.  Tony felt the heat rising in his cheeks once again as Gibbs held onto his fingers just a bit tighter, internally cursing himself for not being able to control this one aspect of himself “Hey! You guys made it!” one guy called from a table in almost the center of the room – He was definitely all marine, everything from his haircut to the way he dressed screamed military man.

 

Gibbs nodded as he helped Tony into his chair and then sat down next to him, setting his hand against Tony’s knee “Yeah, it didn’t take much convincing to get Stevie here out of the house.” Gibbs said, grinning affectionately at Tony before turning back to the group of six men, three marines and their partners, “Steven, this is Corporal Lawrence Scott.  Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Baker.  And Second Lieutenant Ryan Scott.” Gibbs said by way of introduction.

 

Tony shyly reached out, shaking the three marine’s hands delicately – having to remember that he’s supposed to be more timid than what he normally would be when meeting new people – Lawrence looked around the table briefly “And these are our partners, Randy Kelly, Bobby Taylor, and Howard Coleman” Lawrence said, pointing out each man with a smile on his face; Randy was Lawrence’s partner, Bobby was with Kevin and Howard was with Ryan respectively.

 

Tony exchanged handshakes with the partners of the marines and sighed quietly as he looked around briefly, he noticed that a few patrons were eyeing him and he felt – yet again – the blush creeping up his neck and cheeks “You seem a little flustered honey, what’s the problem?” Howard asked, looking directly at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

 

Tony smiled slightly “Nothing is wrong really, I’m just not quite used to meeting Daniel’s friends, we’ve only been married for three months…” Tony said quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the music – Really Tony had absolutely no problems meeting new people, it was the fact that Gibbs’ hand was on his thigh and kneading into it like a cat would and it was causing both odd and good sensations to pool in his stomach and was spreading throughout his body making his temperature rise.

 

Everyone seemed to accept Tony’s answer as the truth and continued on with talking about whatever seemed to cross their minds.  Tony kept his eyes on his surroundings at all times, and his attentions on the group of friends, “We should go dance!” Randy said excitedly as he stood up, looking to Bobby, Howard and Tony with a wide grin.

 

The three men nodded, and Tony was grateful for the reprieve from Gibbs’ wandering fingers, he stood up and walked with the men out onto the dance floor “You guys are really brave for being so open about your relationship.” Bobby commented, looking at Tony with a mixture of trepidation and concern.

 

Tony looked at Bobby curiously “Oh?  How come?” Tony asked quietly as he moved to the beat of the music, he didn’t know what he was listening to honestly but the song had a good beat and he was easily able to pick it up and move his hips to the sounds reverberating off the wood paneled walls of the bar.

 

In turn, the three men explained about the men and women who had been found dead outside of the base, and also explained why they were hesitant about showing public displays of affection with their partners “We almost never kiss or hold hands when we’re out in public, because we’re truly afraid that we’ll end up being next on whoever is going around killing our friends.” Howard commented, and that was the thing that stuck in Tony’s head, that sentence and the fear he saw in all three men’s eyes as they told Tony about the case.

 

Tony felt that these guys didn’t know any more than just what they’d heard or seen in the papers, sighing internally as he thought about the case; they really didn’t have _anything_ more to go on except for vague descriptions from various sources, and none of them matched up when cross referenced, so at this point they really had nothing to go on and Tony didn’t think they would get much until he was on their suspects radar – Whoever he or she was.

 

Tony glanced over his shoulder at Gibbs who was actually laughing _and_ talking to the marines that feeling of guilt and sadness struck Tony again as he saw how truly relaxed and at ease Gibbs felt just being with like-minded people.  Even when they were at NCIS Gibbs never seemed this relaxed, even if he were talking to other Marine’s… Tony shook his head, thinking that this was an entirely different man that Tony was being opened up too, and it only served to make Tony fall deeper in love with the silver haired fox.

 

Howard, Bobby and Randy all looked at Tony with an odd look on their faces “So, you’ve only been married for three months?” Bobby asked curiously as the four men stopped dancing and headed over towards the bar to gather drinks.

 

Tony nodded absently as he ordered himself a scotch and a bourbon for Gibbs “Yeah, why is it that obvious?” Tony asked somewhat timidly, inserting a shy smile as he looked over at Gibbs, who was actually looking at him with a small smile of his own.

 

The three other men nodded their heads in unison and grinned “Definitely.  The way you keep looking at him, and the way he keeps looking at you, it’s like you’re falling in love all over again for the first time.” Randy said softly, a dreamy look in his eyes and in his voice.

 

Tony froze slightly, blinking slowly as the words registered and processed in his brain; he looked directly at Gibbs and saw the softening of the older man’s smile and eyes, how could he have missed it?  He was a trained investigator for god sakes, trained under the man of his affections for twelve years, yes he knew that Gibbs was possibly attracted to him, but always thought that it was probably just surface attraction and nothing more, but now… Now he could see the adoration as plain as day on Gibbs’ face as the older man beckoned him over with a simple gesture from his head “That’s because I do fall in love with him all over again, every time I look at him.” Tony said softly as he collected both of his ordered drinks and walked back over to their table and sat down next to Gibbs, passing him the glass of bourbon.

 

For the rest of the evening, Tony kept an eye on Gibbs as he thought about all the possibilities of what could come of them if he confessed how he felt about the older man – He’d never had a problem with being bold and upfront about how he felt towards people, but somehow this felt different, everything about it felt different.  This was Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you didn’t fall in love with the man unless you were a busty red headed woman.  This was his boss, someone who would head slap you into next week for even thinking about something that wasn’t revolving entirely around the current case.  This was his friend, best friend… Someone who would sit up all night with you as you worried through whatever would plague your mind, chowing down on cowboy steaks and sipping bourbon or a beer.

 

Gibbs set his hand on Tony’s shoulder lightly, shaking the younger man from his thoughts “Hey, you ready to go home now?” Gibbs asked softly, holding onto Tony’s shoulder and massaging into it lightly as he kept their eyes locked in an unspoken conversation that easily passed between the two – Having worked with each other for twelve years, they had their own silent communication that far surpassed any words that could ever be spoken.

 

Tony nodded as he reached up, interlocking his fingers with Gibbs’ fingers as he got up, both men sharing goodbyes with their newly acquired friends as they headed for the door together.  Gibbs helped Tony into the car and then glanced around the parking lot slowly, speculatively eyeing the patrons who were mingling in the parking lot and in the outdoor seating area, “Get any odd vibes from the people here tonight?” Gibbs asked as he got into the SUV and started out of the parking spot and the lot all together.

 

Tony shrugged slightly, he didn’t exactly want to think about the case right now, but Gibbs was always business first, pleasure later so he’d indulge the older man at least for a while “Not so much odd… I did notice a few people staring at us more than others… Could be because we’re clearly the new guys in town, or it could be our suspect or even someone our suspect is working with… It has to be someone who is on base though, that makes more sense than someone who has no connection with Pendleton or the Marine Corps…” Tony surmised as he shifted in the seat and looked over at Gibbs curiously.

 

Gibbs nodded his head and smiled slightly as he drove back towards the base “Okay so we’ll work on being a more dominant precsence in the base than outside of it.  Pendleton has a lot of activities that we can get involved with.” Gibbs said as he pulled onto the street that would lead them to their housing quarters.

 

Tony smiled, nodding as Gibbs pulled into the garage and shut the engine down “Sounds like a good idea, I’ll talk to Stephanie tomorrow and see what she has to say about it.” Tony said as he got out of the SUV and stretched his body out, yawning into his fist, “I’m going to go up and take a shower – You interested in watching a John Wayne movie tonight?” Tony asked, a hopeful note to his tone as he looked at Gibbs over the hood of the SUV.

 

Gibbs nodded as he walked past Tony “Sounds good.  I’ll pop some popcorn and pick out the movie.” Gibbs said as he headed into the house, tossing his keys and wallet on the kitchen counter and heading into the living room whilst Tony darted upstairs to do as he mentioned.

 

* * *

 

When Tony came back downstairs, he smiled at the dimmed lights of the living room, the smell of buttery popcorn wafting heavenly through the room; he’d decided on wearing one of the pairs of obscenely short shorts that Abby had packed for him, since she’d purposefully forgot to pack even one pair of boxers for him – Something he knew he’d have to remedy in coming days, since these shorts were all too revealing.

 

Gibbs raised his eyebrow well past the curl of his bangs as he eyed the shorts that Tony was wearing “Those… are… interesting.” Gibbs managed to get out, feeling the tightening of his sweats constrict as his cock hardened to a painful limit in the mere seconds that Tony had come downstairs and joined him on the couch.

 

Tony nodded, a blush slowly covering his cheeks as he pulled a pillow into his lap, having to hide away his own erection from the noticeable heated gaze that Gibbs was now giving him “Uh yeah… Abby packed them… Gonna have to go purchase a few pairs of boxers.” Tony said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced over at the TV that had the DVD symbol bouncing around in multiple colors on the screen.

 

Gibbs shrugged as he collected the remote for both the DVD player and the TV, tossing them in Tony’s direction “Don’t have too… I like them.” Gibbs said just as quietly, leaning forward to grab the bowl of popcorn and setting it in his lap, thankful for the large size of the bowl as it covered his painfully hard erection.

 

Tony sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, slowly biting against it as he fiddled with the DVD remote and started the movie ‘ _Stagecoach_ ’ “One of my favorites!” Tony exclaimed as he settled comfortably on the couch, his hand blindly reaching into the popcorn bowl in Gibbs’ lap and then popping a few kernels into his mouth.

 

Halfway through the short film, Tony was already well on his way to sleep, laying halfway in Gibbs’ lap and halfway off the couch.  Gibbs’ fingers were twitching ceaselessly as the brown strands of his senior agent’s hair fluttered upward with each breath he drew out, he wanted to do nothing more than to just run long fingers through the strands, and when Gibbs heard the snuffling snore that emitted from the man, he smiled as he set his hand on Tony’s bare shoulder, slowly working his fingers up to the back of Tony’s head where many a head slaps had been administered “’S nice.” Tony murmured sleepily, his head nuzzling into the fingers that were now tentatively rubbing into his scalp.

 

Gibbs let a slow smile spread across his face as he applied just a bit more pressure to the fingers caressing the back of Tony’s head, thinking that perhaps Tony making the first move was the wrong way to do things, but when Tony abruptly reached up and grabbed his wrist, Gibbs entire world nearly came to a stop “We should head upstairs.” Tony said quietly, turning sleepy eyes towards Gibbs, a lazy smile on the younger man’s face.

 

Gibbs merely nodded as he turned off the TV, set aside the popcorn bowl and grabbed his pillow from the other end of the couch while Tony shuffled tiredly towards the stairs.  Gibbs cut all the downstairs lights off and was behind Tony before the younger man had even made it halfway up the steps, to say he was eager to just be in the same bed with Tony was the understatement of the millennium, at least in his mind; he’d thought that for all his efforts it would have taken him a bit longer to get to this stage, but Tony was handing him a golden olive branch and he would take it in any form that he could manage.

 

Tony shuffled into the bedroom and pulled back the thick comforter, letting it drape haphazardly off the end of the bed, then collapsed unceremoniously onto his side of the mattress, snuggling into the cloud-like pillow he had purchased at the PX – the ones that had been sent with them were much to firm for his liking – Gibbs climbed into the bed on the other side, lying stiffly on the mattress that seemed to suck his entire body into, it had been so long since he slept on a mattress of any kind and this one seemed to hug every curve of his body just right.

 

“Don’t want to sleep alone anymore.” Tony said quietly as he shifted closer to Gibbs’ body, turning his head up to look at the older man, the same lazy smile still gracing his features easily as he reached a hand over towards Gibbs’ hand, linking their pinkies together.

 

Gibbs nodded, and for the first time in _many_ years, he felt a vaguely familiar heat tinge his cheeks and neck as a blush crept up unexpectedly from the way Tony was looking at him and the words coming from the younger man’s mouth “Don’t have to Tony.  We’ll figure something out…” Gibbs whispered as he shifted ever so slightly on the soft pillow-top mattress, and when Tony shifted again, bearing his weight against Gibbs’ chest, Gibbs felt his heart swell immensely with love for the younger man as his body was snuggled into.

 

Tony nodded and curled around Gibbs like a sloth would when getting ready to sleep, and that’s exactly what happened, Tony was out within a matter of seconds, his mouth halfway opened as if he were going to say something and Gibbs let out a slight chuckle as he set the flat of his palm against Tony’s bare back, gently caressing the warm flesh beneath his fingertips until Tony’s body fully relaxed against his.  This was the start of something, Gibbs knew that, but Tony had still yet to say anything about his feelings, and their case seemed to be going nowhere slowly so Gibbs smiled as he thought that this would be the best of both worlds; he’d get Tony to fall even deeper in love with him, and he’d get to live out the one dream that he’d wanted to live since the time he had enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was just a small town boy at the age of eighteen.

 

Gibbs laid there for a long while yet after Tony had already fallen into a deep state of sleep, his hand mindlessly running along Tony’s back and feeling each vertebrae that protruded from the younger man’s spine; occasionally Tony’s breath would hitch, not just from the touches but from his still marred lungs that had been damaged from the plague all those years ago, and Gibbs hated listening to the slightly wheezed breaths that Tony made, because it was a constant reminder that he hadn’t been able to stop Tony, to protect the younger man from the envelope that could have taken Tony away from him permanently, and that made hot tears well up in his eyes as he clutched his fingers around Tony’s shoulder blade, grateful that he hadn’t lost another person that he loved deeply to mindless murder.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs smiled nervously as the piano movers settled the barely used baby grand piano in the corner of the room; it was a crisp white color that played well in the deep tan of the study/den and was a great instrument that filled the sparsely decorated den up until this point – Gibbs knew that Tony would be thrilled to have the piano, since he was denied being able to get a job outside of ‘writing his story’.

 

It had only taken Gibbs a week to find the piano, and after several back-and-forth negotiations with the owner, he’d managed to get the price down to an even thousand bucks, something he’d easily make back with his pay allowances.  Tony was due home any minute from the clinic that he managed to find a non-paid volunteer position at, that was their secret since it technically wasn’t a paid job they wouldn’t inform Vance or even Hetty about it and Tony had promised to not even mention the work to Abby.

 

The piano movers had left, leaving the shining white baby grand piano to sit perfectly in between two large windows, the sunlight beaming off the polished surface perfectly as Gibbs waited impatiently for Tony to show up – when the sound of an engine pulled into the cavernous garage and the squeaking of the garage door started its downward descend, Gibbs moved quickly to the door that led into the space between the dining room and den, pulling the pocket doors shut behind him.

 

Tony came into the hallway and smiled warmly at Gibbs who had a decidedly guilty smile on his face “You look like the Cheshire cat who ate the canary, all at the same time – What did you do?” Tony asked immediately, he’d been quite used to the gifts that Gibbs had been bestowing upon him every couple of days now, and each new thing always made his heart sore dramatically.

 

Gibbs shrugged forcefully “Nothing – Now close your eyes.” Gibbs said demandingly as he collected Tony’s backpack and set it on the hook next to the garage door, waiting patiently as the younger man screwed his eyes shut.  Gibbs took both of Tony’s hands into one of his own “Keep them shut.” Gibbs instructed as he pushed the pocket doors opened again and carefully guided Tony into the study.

 

Tony fumbled with Gibbs until the younger man was settled on a smooth and hard surface, the feel beneath his bottom was a familiar one and when his fingers were set upon the ivory keys, his eyes flew open as he stared at the piano, his fingers trembling and bottom lip quivering “How… How?” Tony asked softly, looking up at the older man who was just left of his shoulder.

 

“I bought it for you – I figured you probably missed the one at home… So I started scouring the for sale ads on base, and found someone who was selling…” Gibbs explained, setting a firm and warm hand against Tony’s shoulder, he could even feel the trembling from the younger man’s fingers all the way up to his shoulder “Do… Do you like it?” Gibbs asked hesitantly, he’d never been so nervous before in his life, and had really hoped that this one act would send the domino’s cascading towards the one goal he had in mind since getting onto that airplane two weeks ago.

 

Tony nodded mutely, afraid that if he spoke the dam of emotions inside of him would break and he’d become a blubbering fool – Only an occasional time had anyone seen Tony in actual tears, and even though he loved Gibbs, he was still leery about displaying the more emotional side of himself.  Tony stood up and unexpectedly wrapped his arms around Gibbs’ waist, nuzzling his head underneath the older man’s chin, “I… I love it…” Tony whispered quietly, his voice raw and thick with emotion as he tightened his hold on Gibbs’ body.

 

Gibbs smiled, sighing in relief as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders and held him impossibly close to his body – finally he’d had enough of waiting Tony out and in the heat of the moment “I love you…” Gibbs blurted out quietly, freezing in fear as soon as the words left his lips.

 

Tony also froze as the words left Gibbs’ lips and caressed the shell of his ear, he’d waited so long to hear those words, fantasized and dreamed of hearing the husky voice of his boss and best friend muttering those words to him – of course in most of those dreams it always happened after mind-blowing sex, not standing in front of a brand new piano as they played make-believe with a case that was going nowhere.  “I… I…” the words seemed to clog in Tony’s throat, he lifted his head and the glint from the setting evening sun set fire to the tears that clung to the bottom of his eyelids, letting them fall slowly down his cheeks “Love you too.” He finally managed with more confidence than he actually felt in this particular moment.

 

Gibbs slid his hand around the back of Tony’s neck, drawing the younger man impossibly close to his face, the warmth of Tony’s breath leaving a slight condensation on his upper lip as the scent of something spicy that was all Tony invaded his senses and threatened to overwhelm “Been waiting a long time to hear you say that.” Gibbs whispered against Tony’s lips, boldly moving in and capturing the younger man’s lips in a kiss that set both men’s bodies on fire from the tips of their toes to the end strands of their hair.

 

Tony clutched onto the small of Gibbs’ back, panting slightly as the kiss went from slow and sensual to sloppy and heated in a matter of seconds, velvety tongues caressing and sliding against one another.  Tony gasped when the small of his back was pressed into the smooth curve of the piano and the hard erection from Gibbs pressed urgently into his hip bone “Jethro…” Tony managed to whisper hoarsely when they finally pulled apart for much needed oxygen.

 

Gibbs rested his forehead against Tony’s cheek, his fingers twisted in the thin fabric of the sea-green scrub top that Tony was wearing – All personnel, volunteer and otherwise had to wear scrubs when at the clinic – “Yeah Tony?” Gibbs questioned softly, his voice was also rough and hoarse; when he finally opened his eyes all he saw was the purity of green that had love written into them, as if written in stone.

 

“Thank you…” Tony whispered, lying his forehead in the center of Gibbs’ chest “For all of this… I…” Tony shook his head and buried his head into Gibbs’ chest, the tears he had tried so hard to keep from falling now silently tracking down his cheeks and soaking into the fabric of Gibbs’ USMC t-shirt, leaving small pools of moisture behind.

 

Gibbs held onto Tony just a bit tighter, carefully massaging into the younger man’s shoulders; he’d expected a bit of an emotional response to the gift, but to have Tony nearly sobbing in his arms was truly unexpected.  “Hey… Are you okay?” Gibbs asked softly, carefully extracting Tony from his arms, looking down at the younger man with concern etched on his face.

 

Tony nodded, swiping the shoulder of his scrub top across the errant tears sticking to his eyelashes and cheeks “Yes… Yes, I’m fine. I’m just a little overwhelmed is all… Nobody… Nobody has ever done anything so… thoughtful like this, for me.” Tony said, turning and setting his hands against the piano, reveling in the firm feeling of the solid wood, “Thank you Jethro, this means… so much to me.” Tony whispered as he looked over his shoulder at the older man.

 

Gibbs smiled warmly and reached out to Tony, turning the younger man around to face him.  Gibbs set a gentle hand against Tony’s cheek, brushing his thumb carefully over Tony’s cheekbone as their eyes locked in yet another silent conversation “You’ve got nothing to thank me for, Tony.  I want you to be just as comfortable being here, as I am…” Gibbs said sincerely, leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss on Tony’s forehead before he turned and headed towards the kitchen “I’m cooking dinner tonight too, so enjoy yourself while you can!” Gibbs called over his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs woke up with a start, his chest feeling surprisingly light, he glanced down at his chest, noticing that Tony wasn’t lying across his body like he’d had for the past week since being invited upstairs to sleep in the bed, Gibbs looked over at the clock and noticed that it was 2:30 in the morning; Panic near set in when a painfully beautiful sound echoed from downstairs.  Gibbs quietly got up and padded down the stairs, looking into the study and seeing the silhouette of Tony’s body sitting at the piano, his fingers easily gliding over the keys.

 

Gibbs smiled as he leaned against the doorjamb, listening as Tony seemed to lose himself in the music that he was creating – Gibbs may not be at all knowledgeable when it came to anything musical, but from the sound of it, this had to be an original that Tony was playing, because he’d never heard anything so painful or lovely at the same time.

 

Whatever caused Tony so much pain to have written this though, made Gibbs’ heart both break and swell as he thought about how Tony had accepted his feelings for the truth of what they were – Having been able to separate the case from their real life feelings was surprisingly easy, since they had both fallen in love with each other unconsciously before they were even assigned this case.  Tony suddenly stopped playing and a small smile crossed the younger man’s face “You know, eavesdropping isn’t very polite Jethro.” Tony said quietly, turning around on the piano’s bench seat, his eyes locked on the wall where Gibbs was hiding around the corner.

 

Gibbs came around the corner, smiling sheepishly as he walked over to the piano, leaning on the top as he looked down at Tony, linking his hands together “Why aren’t you sleeping?  It’s nearly three in the morning.” Gibbs asked in concern, raising his eyebrow slightly as he looked at Tony, noticing the younger man’s eyes were heavy with exhaustion.

 

Tony sighed as he closed the lid over the keys of the piano, crossing his arms over the top and lying his forehead on his arms “I can’t seem to sleep… I meant to say something earlier, but with the excitement surrounding the piano… It just… It kind of slipped my mind…” Tony said quietly so that even Gibbs had to strain to hear what the younger man was saying “While I was at the clinic today – I kept getting the sense that someone was watching me, but whenever I turned around, there wasn’t anyone even remotely close to me.” Tony said, looking up at Gibbs with a mixture of worry and concern on his face.

 

Gibbs quickly moved to straddle the piano bench, setting his hand on the side of Tony’s neck “Hey, if that’s the case then maybe you’re finally getting recognized by our suspect… I’ll carry the GPS tracker with me from now on.” Gibbs said confidently and firmly, even though he didn’t feel the confidence he should in this moment, in all honesty he was more worried than he should have been, because now that he and Tony had confessed their attractions, Gibbs was afraid that what he’d found in Tony would be lost before they could even begin.

 

Tony nodded and laid his head against Gibbs shoulders, setting both his hands on the older man’s thighs “We really need to talk about this thing between us.” Tony said quietly, gently kneading into Gibbs’ thighs as he looked into his eyes.  Tony had been worried about bringing this up, but with imminent danger possibly looming ahead, he wanted to clear the air between him and Gibbs now before it was perhaps too late.

 

Gibbs nodded as he leaned forward just slightly, pressing his lips tenderly against Tony’s and kissing him chastely “We should, you’re right – But could we go upstairs and do it?  This bench isn’t exactly comfortable.” Gibbs said, smiling slightly as he nuzzled his nose against the side of Tony’s nose.  Tony nodded as he stood up, wrapping his fingers around Gibbs’ hand as he and the older man headed for the stairs “I’ll be up in a minute… You go on up and get comfortable.” Gibbs said, smiling as he pecked Tony one last time on the lips before releasing the younger man’s hand and watching as he disappeared up the steps.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs came into the bedroom a few minutes later and held up the GPS locator “We should probably check and make sure these things work properly too.” Gibbs said as he got into the bed and propped himself up against the headboard, quickly turning on the locator and watching the screen as it booted up.

 

Once the GPS locator was booted up and flashing ‘Target unavailable’ Tony carefully palpated his forearm until he found the small GPS chip in his arm, gently pressing down onto the activator.  A few seconds later the locator beeped a few times and then transmitted Tony’s location “Guess it works.” Tony said quietly as he curled up on the bed, lying his head against Gibbs’ outer thigh as the older man shut the locator off and set it down on the nightstand.

 

Gibbs gently carded his fingers through Tony’s hair, massaging into the younger man’s scalp as he laid his head back, staring up at the ceiling “So, what’s bothering ya?” Gibbs asked quietly, looking down at the top of Tony’s head.

 

Tony shook his head slightly “Nothing’s really bothering me… I’m just – What happens afterwards?  Once this case is solved?” Tony asked, tilting his head back slightly to look up at Gibbs, a clearly nervous look in his eyes.

 

Gibbs shrugged, “Don’t know Tony, this is something we have to decide together… I want to have more than just this case between us… I want to be able to go back home and have you lying in my arms every night, just like we are now… What I do know is – Now that our feelings are out there – I’m not taking them back, and I won’t back away from you, not unless you tell me too.” Gibbs said sincerely, holding Tony’s gaze with the truth of his affections towards the younger man.

 

Tony nodded as he shifted up on the bed, capturing Gibbs’ lips in a slow kiss “I can’t say I’m good at making relationships work, or last long… But I’m willing to give it a try with you Jethro… Only with you.” Tony whispered against the older man’s lips, setting his hand against the firm muscle of the older man’s chest, right against his beating heart.

 

Gibbs smiled against Tony’s lips, cupping the side of the younger man’s neck as he pressed feather light kisses along his lips, cheeks, nose and forehead “I ain’t so good with relationships either, but I’ll get better at it if I get to keep doing this with you for the rest of my life.” Gibbs whispered as he delved into Tony’s mouth once more, the tip of his tongue slowly caressing Tony’s bottom lip until the younger man’s mouth opened up eagerly, tongues twisting and gliding easily against one another.

 

Tony clutched tightly at Gibbs’ white Hanes shirt, moving slowly into the older man’s lap as the kiss grew more sensual.  A small moan emitted from Tony’s mouth as Gibbs clutched at his hips and held their bodies impossibly close “We can’t… Not yet…” Gibbs murmured as he pulled back just slightly, still placing feathery kisses against Tony’s lips as their panted breathes mixed and mingled between them

 

Tony nodded as he laid his forehead in the curve of Gibbs’ nose, huffing out a breath “You have something against sleeping with someone you’re not married to Jethro?” Tony asked teasingly, looking into the older man’s eyes with mirth dancing in his own.

 

Gibbs chuckled and shook his head, pulling Tony’s bottom lip in between his teeth briefly before letting it go and resting his hands on Tony’s firm ass, “No, it’s not that – I just want to take things slow and do this right – Don’t want our first time to be twisted up in this case from hell.” Gibbs said as he slowly shifted his and Tony’s body down the mattress, lying his head down on the pillow, never once taking his eyes off Tony.

 

Tony smiled as he shifted onto the mattress, curling his body around Gibbs’ body as he’d done every night for the past week “Slow and I don’t exactly mesh well either Jethro… But, for the sake of making the right decisions towards us… I’ll respect your choices and try my very hardest to not want to jump your bones every time you come home in that sexy as hell uniform.” Tony said, grinning lavishly up at the older man and then snuggling into the warm and firm muscles of Gibbs’ body.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Gibbs had to drop Tony off at the veterinarian clinic, and that’s where they were now – Gibbs sitting on the hood of the SUV and Tony in between his legs, their lips touching in sweet and gentle kisses.  Tony sighed as he laid his head against Gibbs’ shoulder “You feel that?” Tony asked quietly, glancing out of the corner of his eye up at Gibbs.

 

Gibbs nodded as he massaged into Tony’s hips gently “Yeah, I do.” Gibbs whispered, surreptitiously glancing around their surroundings; he’d definitely felt a shift in the air and felt a pair of eyes watching him, but like Tony had said, when he looked around, there was no one in the immediate area looking at them, and those who were nearby weren’t looking in their direction.

 

“Make sure when you get in the car that you turn the locator on again… If today is the day he or she chooses to strike, I need you to know where I am.” Tony whispered as he turned his head into the crook of Gibbs neck, clutching onto the back of Gibbs’ BDU jacket and sighing.

 

Gibbs nodded as he kissed the side of Tony’s temple lightly “I will.  You should get in there though… And, Tony please be safe, don’t try and be the hero if things get crazy.” Gibbs whispered as he cupped Tony’s cheek and kissed the younger man tenderly on the lips.

 

Tony nodded as he stood up straighter “I’ll try, but we don’t even know how any of the victims were kidnapped… Just keep the locator handy.” Tony said quietly as he kissed Gibbs one last time before heading into the clinic.

 

Tony dropped his backpack in his assigned locker and sighed as he glanced around the open space, the sense still lingering and sending chills up his spine.  “Hey Stevie!  How are you this morning?” One of the vet technicians asked as she came into the room, setting her bag in her own locker.

 

Tony smiled politely and nodded his head “I’m fine, thanks Lexi.  Just a bit tired.” Tony said quietly, and it was an honest truth, after having been able fall asleep until probably around four AM and turning around and waking up at eight AM was not doing him any good, it was almost like still being in DC and only getting a few hours of sleep before having to go back to work.

 

Lexi nodded her head slowly “I get that – I saw your husband while you two were standing outside together… and _wow_.” Lexi said, fanning herself dramatically and grinning over at Tony, “For an older guy, he is super-hot!” Lexi added as she and Tony headed down the hall towards the kennels together.

 

Tony felt the heat rising in his cheeks, feeling yet again like the perpetual teenage girl who couldn’t control the blush he always felt when talking or even just thinking about Gibbs “Yeah… He is pretty hot.” Tony agreed easily, collecting a large bag of dog food as he started depositing a scoop of food to each dog while Lexi fed the cats.

 

After feeding the animals that were in the back, Tony found a spot up front where he could greet incoming patients and their owners.  And throughout the day Tony constantly felt someone watching him, his entire body felt like it was on overdrive with pent-up adrenaline that he just couldn’t shake.  Tony honestly felt like his skin was crawling from all the odd vibes he’d been getting all day, he’d noticed that no one in particular was truthfully giving him the vibe when he was nearby, and thought that perhaps it was just his imagination playing tricks on him instead of their suspect actually spying on him, which gave him a bit of a reprieve but he knew not to drop his defenses because often times that was when suspects chose to strike, when vigilance was no longer an issue and their target was unsuspecting of what was coming next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kind of short and just fluffy stuff, and I am sorry about that, but now that the boys know how each other feel, things are truthfully going to start picking up... I had slotted this story to be semi-short, I couldn't see it lasting for more than 10 chapters, but we will see what happens as the story progresses even further!
> 
> I'd also like to take the time to thank ALL of you for giving me positive feedback and just in general making me smile and happy about all the good things that you see in this story - Courting/Sweet Gibbs is always a favorite of mine, and I prefer it over the normal brashness that he exudes and I am so glad that everyone else likes that Gibbs also!!! 
> 
> Keep giving me your thoughts, because they are all wonderful and makes me feel so happy that you all love these stories, and they will further feed the muse to continue producing greatness!! <3 <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter - I couldn't stand hurting Tony so I made it as quick as possible... Just don't be too harsh on me for this because I just absolutely hated writing this and it broke my heart to do it because I love Tony :(

Gibbs and Tony had been in California for a little over two months now, and Tony’s senses were constantly on overdrive ever since he noticed that he was being watched; they still didn’t know who was watching him but things on the base were starting to get a little more hectic with units coming back from overseas as well.

 

Often times when Gibbs or Tony would come home, they would notice small things that were out of place or plain missing from their yard – Mail being lost, their yellow ‘support the troops’ ribbon gone, even having porch furniture moved or tampered with.  Tony didn’t usually fear much but what really did him in was the letter he received from an unknown sender – It had been sitting on the table in the foyer for a week now, both Gibbs and Tony were leery to even touch it any further than what they had to when Tony brought it into the house.

 

Gibbs was monumentally worried about Tony and the way the younger man seemed to never relax until they were both inside of the home and all of the doors were locked – He knew that Tony was being paranoid but also knew that Tony had every reason to be paranoid and wished he could just ease the worry away from Tony or catch their serial killer before he or she even had a chance to touch a single hair on top of Tony’s head.

 

Unfortunately there were times, like now, when Tony was alone and it was late in the evening when his nerves were at their highest.  Tony sighed as he stared at the bright sign of the base PX, he only needed a few things from inside – Shampoo, new shirts for Gibbs and laundry detergent – why he decided that after spending the past twelve hours at the clinic going to the PX after Nine PM was a good idea, he didn’t know, but he knew that Gibbs needed the shirts by tomorrow, so he had no choice.

 

Tony inhaled deeply as he got out of the SUV and started towards the front doors of the general store, luckily he knew where everything was in the store, since he’d spent time walking every aisle of the PX the first day he was here, and had probably spent more time in the PX than he did anywhere else on the base so far.  Luckily there weren’t to many people in the parking lot or even the store so Tony was able to get into the store and get the few things he needed all within thirty minutes – spending a few minutes looking at the new arrivals and the clearance aisles.

 

After collecting his purchases, Tony headed back out to the parking lot, furrowing his brows as he saw a woman struggling to carry several brown paper sacks that were overflowing with her purchases.  Tony caught up to the woman just as one of the bottoms of the bags busted; Milk, Lemons and other purchases scattering or spilling along the parking lot “Oh damn it!” the young lady cursed as she set her other bags down, trying to gather the wayward lemons.

 

Tony frowned as he also set his bag down, helping to collect the dropped groceries.  With Tony’s back turned, he hadn’t noticed the other person standing over his crouched position, but he did feel the moment that a hard metal object struck the back of his head, and then the feel of gravel scraping across his cheek as he collapsed onto the parking lot, then there was nothing as the darkness consumed him.

 

* * *

 

When Tony woke up hours later, he tried moving his limbs, but found that his legs and arms were both tied tightly behind his back, causing every muscle in his body to feel as if it were set on fire.  Not only were his muscles throbbing painfully, but so was his head, he knew he had a concussion, he’d had many concussions in the past to easily diagnose himself; the nausea, the headache, double vision and the moonlight shining down from above him was blinding, but he was terrified of shutting his eyes, and equally terrified about the fact that he couldn’t activate the locator – Thinking that Gibbs would be going out of his mind with worry about the fact that he hadn’t made it home yet when he said he’d be there in ten minutes, which was… Tony estimated three hours ago, if he went by the position of the moon.

 

Tony closed his eyes briefly, clearing the blurry vision that he had and sighing quietly as he tried loosening his bindings, his ears were on hyper-alter as he listened to his surroundings, he could hear a female voice and a male voice speaking quietly from the front seats of the SUV.  Tony’s heart practically stopped when the two voices from the front seat became recognizable, the female voice belonged to Lexi, the vet technician who he had befriended the first day he started working at the Vet Clinic, and the man’s voice belonged to one of the active duty veterinarians – Lt. Col. Terry Anderson.

 

He hadn’t known Terry nearly as long as he’d known Lexi, but just from having worked with Gibbs for as long as he had, he deduced within a matter of minutes that the older gentleman was so deep in the closet.  Tony shook his head as he stared up at the opened sky, there were no land marks to go by, and the air around him felt suffocating, so he surmised that they had to be somewhere in the desert, which had Tony’s stomach twisting into even further knots than the nausea that was pulling at him.  On top of all the fear he felt, he was worried that the GPS transmitter wouldn’t reach the locator and Gibbs would never find him, and that thought alone brought hot stinging tears to his eyes.

 

When the car started going downhill, Tony’s entire body shifted in the back of the SUV, his tied fists biting into his spine painfully, and to add to the pain, the road they were on seemed bumpier than before.  Rock quarry, was the first thing that Tony thought as he saw a large shadow of a crane-like object go over the top of the SUV.  As the car came to a stop, Tony had to force himself to relax as much as possible so he could continue feigning unconsciousness when the two suspects came to collect him.

 

Terry and Lexi both came to the back of the SUV, staring at Tony while shaking their heads “Be glad when this one is gone – He was always so… annoyingly chipper.” Lexi complained as she reached forward, grabbing Tony’s bound ankles, and with the help of Terry they pulled Tony out to the edge of the SUV.

 

“Yeah, I know what you mean – Nobody is chipper at 0600 but this guy… Man he was like a double shot of coffee…” Terry agreed as he hoisted Tony up onto his broad shoulder, “And damn is he heavy…” Terry added as he and Lexi made their way towards a run-down building.  Tony cracked his eyes open slowly, glancing around to at least where he could see, noticing that all he could see was darkened sand, biting back a groan of pain as his head grazed the top of the door opening.

 

“Let’s hurry up and get him downstairs, he’s starting to wake up.” Terry said urgently as he pressed a button, the slow churning of a power-lift echoed in the cavernous workshop.  Terry and Lexi quickly got onto the lift once it stopped at their level, and then the descend started a few seconds later, and the quick jump of the machine made Tony’s stomach lurch, the nausea he’d been biting back for the last hour quickly coming up and expelling out onto the lift floor.

 

“Gross!” Lexi shrieked, jumping away from Tony as he threw up on the lift, “Well, I guess he’s awake!” Lexi grumbled as she opened the lift door as it stopped on the ground-level.

 

Terry nodded glumly, feeling the upchuck on his back as he moved down a long, dark hallway towards a steel dead-bolted door, “Yeah, good thing he’s got a mild paralytic coursing through his system, he won’t be moving too much on us for a few more hours.” Terry said darkly as he walked into the small 8x8 room that only had a small roll-out cot on the floor in the corner.

 

Tony grunted as he was dropped harshly onto the cot, “Don’t forget to cuff him up… I need to go make a phone call.” Terry said as he turned back out of the room, leaving Lexi to deal with Tony by herself.

 

Lexi rolled her eyes “Like I don’t know what to do…” she grumbled to herself as she grabbed a chain that was connected to a ring on the floor, setting it nearby Tony’s body.  Lexi undid Tony’s wrists from the rope around his wrists, bringing them to the front of his body and locking the shackles around his wrists.  Lexi then cut the rope that bound Tony’s feet, “Should have never come to Pendleton…” Lexi murmured as she stood up and headed out of the cell, leaving Tony in pitch darkness as she pulled the door shut behind her.

 

* * *

 

Tony sighed as he laid flat on the cot, whatever paralytic that Terry mentioned must have worn off because he could move every muscle of his body and had been able to long before they arrived at the quarry.  He’d been in the cell for a little over an hour now, and having skipped dinner his stomach was rumbling loudly, he didn’t know how long he would be trapped in this cell, nor did he know if the activator would work, but he wouldn’t activate it until he knew he absolutely had too.

 

Tony slowly looked around the dark cell, curling his body up and resting his forehead against his bent knees to try and keep what little warmth he could within himself; the cell was damp and abnormally cold.  If there was one thing Tony knew, it was that by the end of this, if he was found, he would definitely have pneumonia, wet and cold never did anything good for his lungs, and the moldy smell that was coming off the cot certainly wouldn’t help aid in anything except for making the illness worse.

 

After what felt like hours, which was really only about ten minutes, Tony had finally fallen asleep, even if it were a light sleep, he knew he’d need the energy to survive whatever hell he would have to endure before he was found.  Tony let his mind drift while he was in between the sleeping and awake state; the thoughts that constantly circled his brain were that of him and Gibbs in the distant future, and although he was in a semi-conscious state, he could feel the smile spreading across his lips at the thought of him and Gibbs being together and happier than they’d ever been before in their lives, but it also broke his heart as the conscious part of his brain reminded him that this could be the end if he didn’t time everything perfectly.

 

Tony was startled awake hours later, he hadn’t meant to fall asleep so deeply, but the peaceful dream of him and Gibbs on the boat – which he _still_ had no idea how he got it out of the basement – took hold of him and lulled him into a sense of false security.  The door to the cell opened slowly, creaking loudly and letting light flood into the room, Tony clenched his eyes shut, and he almost hissed at the brightness from the fluorescent lights hanging in the hallway hit him directly.

 

Terry came into the room and crouched in front of Tony, “Shame really, for such a pretty boy like you to be caught up in such a mess…” Terry chided, moving his hand forward and caressing Tony’s cheek with the sharp end of a steel blade, causing a minor flesh wound to split open and leak blood down Tony’s jaw and into his mouth.

 

Tony remained impassively silent as he opened his eyes and stared up at Terry “I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with you.” Terry said joyfully as he continued sliding the knife across Tony’s cheek and all the way down to his jaw – the wounds were superficial at this point and would heal within a matter of days.

 

Terry sighed as he sat in front of Tony “You’re not talking too much now, are ya?  Usually you’re so talkative.” Terry said sadly, poking at Tony’s chest with the sharp end of the knife, small pinprick wounds surfacing and bleeding through Tony’s shirt.

 

Tony forced himself to stay silent and still, only blinking a few times as he continued staring at Terry.  Terry shook his head slowly “You’re stronger than I thought you’d be, but I’ll break you, I always break my targets…” Terry said as he pulled the knife down the center of Tony’s chest and stomach, cutting the younger man’s shirt wide open and leaving a long gash from between his pectoral muscles to his belly button, this wound was definitely deeper and would more than likely leave a scar behind.

 

Terry stood up and pocketed the knife in its sheath, kicking Tony harshly in the abdomen before leaving him in the pitch dark of the room once again.  Tony gasped out, a shuddering sob escaping him as he curled around his throbbing abdomen, Tony used his shoulder to swipe at the blood drying on his cheek, then shook his head as he laid down “Forgive me Jethro…” Tony whispered into the darkness of the room.

 

* * *

 

Tony had finally succumbed to the pain and fell asleep again about ten minutes after Terry left him.  Now he’d been sleeping for about three hours when he was startled awake by loud screams echoing in his cell, Tony could tell that the screams were recorded as they looped repeatedly, but still they made his entire body shiver as he listened.

 

Over the next several hours, the screams would come intermittently through the speaker that seemed to be directly above Tony’s head.  The sounds would stop, but they continued to play on repeat in Tony’s head, he tried to not let it affect him but he could tell that it was, listening to the mournful sobs and screams of the previous victims that came before him.

 

Whenever Tony would almost fall asleep, the screams would start up again, and when he’d just close his eyes his imagination would go insane with images of the victims after they’d been found.  It was a constant loop of imagery and screams that were really starting to make Tony feel like he was going to go out of his mind, all he wanted to do was shut everything off.  Tony knew he could take the beating, the torture, hell he could probably even handle the rape if it came down to it, but it was the psychological torture that was doing him in, he knew he’d have nightmares about it for a long while yet.

 

When Terry did return, Tony remained silent and as still as possible, even as the older man drove steel-toed boots into his body or sliced his skin open with the knife.  Tony knew he couldn’t show his fear or that would only make things worse for him, and he didn’t want to become the next recorded voice on that dreaded speaker system and for all his efforts of remaining stoically silent, Terry would often leave him after delivering a final blow to either his already injured knee or his stomach, both of which were tender and possibly broken.

 

After enduring the screams, beatings and cuts across his entire body, Tony stared at his forearm for the hundredth time since being locked up – He’d estimated that he’d been locked in the cell for a little over a day now, and sighed as he thought about how Gibbs and how the older man was probably going out of his mind with worry and fear, because that’s where Tony’s own mind was at.  Tony finally gave in to the temptation of being found, he couldn’t do this anymore and just wanted to go home, he pressed his forehead against the locator, waiting until he heard the subtle click of the activator pressing into place.

 

Tony let a small sigh of relief out as he collapsed against the cot, now all he had left now was praying that the transmitter would reach Gibbs in Pendleton from wherever the hell he was.  Once again, thinking about Gibbs brought stingingly hot tears to his eyes, all he wanted was to be back in Gibbs’ arms and back in DC at this point.  Tony’s lungs were tight as the tears threatened to overwhelm him, and as he tried to suppress them, he started coughing viciously into the cot, which made his entire body feel as if it were on fire.

 

Knowing his body well was a positive and a negative at the same time, at least in this moment, he could tell that the beginnings of a cold was starting to take hold of him; he could tell that he had at least two cracked ribs that he could feel.  Tony’s entire body was racked with cold chills, he was shivering viciously and his stomach continued to rumble loudly, he couldn’t even remember the last meal he ate now because his mind and thoughts had been consumed by the screams of sheer terror that continued playing both in his head and in the room itself.


	6. Chapter 6

_“I’ll be home in about ten minutes, so just pull the casserole dish out of the oven and get everything ready.”_ Tony said into the phone.

 

Gibbs rolled his eyes “Alright Tony – Just hurry up and get home.” Gibbs replied as he hung up while walking into the kitchen – he still had a hard time with phone etiquette but he knew that Tony would understand the meaning behind his words.  Gibbs carefully pulled the casserole dish out of the oven and set it on the glass top of the stove, then quickly went around to set the table and get their drinks prepared, he even lit up a few candles, smiling at the minor romances he was trying to insinuate into their relationship.

 

Gibbs dimmed the lights in the dining room and then sat down at the table, spinning his glass of bourbon around in his fingertips as he waited for Tony to show up.  Gibbs watched as the minutes on the clock ticked by slowly, he anxiously tapped his fingers against the table top, it was already well past ten minutes and Tony hadn’t shown up yet.

 

Gibbs grabbed his cellphone off the counter, dialing Tony’s number as he poked at the casserole which was now tepid.  “ _You’ve reached Steven Gray, sorry I couldn’t come to the phone right now.  Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!”_ came Tony’s voicemail message.  Gibbs growled as he slapped the cellphone shut, looking around the kitchen angrily “Damn it!” Gibbs ground out through clenched teeth as he put the cellphone back down on the countertop.

 

“Fine time to disobey Rule Three, Tony!” Gibbs grumped as he sat on top of the counter, staring at the digit clock on the stove.  The minutes continuing to tick by mockingly as Gibbs glared at the numbers and continued both checking his phone and dialing Tony’s number every few minutes, but something in his gut told him that Tony wasn’t going to answer and was now pulling him in another direction.

 

Gibbs collected his keys, wallet, cellphone and the GPS locator, looking at the device sadly as he headed outside.  Gibbs glanced around the street briefly and sighed as he started the short walk towards where the PX was located, thankfully it was only a couple of blocks from the house and not on the other side of the base.

 

Gibbs looked around the barren parking lot, his heart sinking to his feet as he saw what was left of several grocery bags scattered across the parking lot ground and his and Tony’s SUV sitting only a few feet away “No… No!  NO DAMN IT!” Gibbs shouted as he ran full-speed over to the groceries, looking for anything that would help him.

 

Gibbs sunk to his knees as he brought the bag he knew to be Tony’s purchases to his chest, inhaling shakily as he stared at the concrete beneath him “Damn it Anthony… Damn it to hell!” Gibbs said as his eyes locked onto the small pool of dried blood.  Gibbs quickly pulled the GPS locator out and turned it on, hoping beyond hope that Tony activated the transmission and this nightmare would be over quickly.

 

Gibbs stared blankly at the locator, ‘Target Unavailable’ blinking back at him incessantly.  Gibbs shook his head as he placed the locator back into his pocket and laid his forehead against his bent knees to regain some sort of composure before he called Hetty to inform her of the situation.

 

“Agent Gibbs, this better be good.” Hetty said as soon as Gibbs was able to contain the rage and the sudden urge to cry his eyes out and call the woman who ran the LA Office.

 

Gibbs inhaled shakily as he stood up from the ground “Tony’s been taken Hetty… He was at the PX – The car is here, the groceries are here… He’s gone.” Gibbs said quietly, leaning his forehead against the cool steel of the SUV, his voice hitching as he began explaining what he knew so far about Tony’s disappearance.

 

“I’ll have Sam and Callen drive out to you.  Keep the GPS system on, Agent Gibbs and just hope that wherever Tony is, he can activate it.” Hetty said as she hung up the phone and set out to call her two best agents to send them down to San Diego.

 

* * *

 

Two hours later, Gibbs was sitting on the bumper of the SUV that was still in the PX parking lot when Sam and Callen pulled up in the black Challenger and joined Gibbs at the back of the SUV “Any changes?” Sam asked as he looked over at the older man.

 

Gibbs shook his head, cradling the GPS locator in his hands like it would break if he even moved it an inch “No, nothing yet…” Gibbs said quietly as he blinked back the tears that had quickly formed in his eyes.

 

Callen set his hand on Gibbs’ shoulder and squeezed firmly “We’ll find him.  There aren’t any other options but finding him.” Callen said confidently as he stood up “I’m going to go inside and get the security footage – Send that off to Eric and see if we can’t speed up the process.” Callen said as he headed towards the PX and disappeared inside.

 

Sam nodded as he also stood up “Why don’t you head home?  Try and get some sleep… Callen and I will process everything here.” Sam said as he looked around the scene slowly, one of his eyebrows raising upward.

 

Gibbs sighed as he got up “I’m going to drive the SUV back… Call me if there’s anything.” Gibbs said as he got into the SUV and peeled out of the parking lot, trying his hardest to keep his gut from completely twisting up into an impenetrable knot as the worry for Tony continued to increase.

 

When Gibbs got home, he dropped all of his things on the table just inside of the door and looked around the empty house; everything felt like it was ten degrees colder without Tony being there, and it even felt dull and unlived in without the younger man’s laughter, or constant talking.  Gibbs felt the change in the air of the house as if it were something palpable as he looked towards the piano that he and Tony had enjoyed several times since he’d gotten it for Tony.

 

Gibbs shook his head as he headed up the stairs and into the master bedroom, lying on Tony’s side of the bed and turning his head into Tony’s pillow, inhaling the spicy scent that was still so deeply ingrained in the fabric of the cloud-like pillow.  A strangled sob ripped out of Gibbs’ throat as he clenched around the pillow, letting the emotional turmoil take ahold of him and lull him to sleep as he held Tony’s pillow close to his body.

 

* * *

 

After just lying in bed for several hours, staring blankly at the wall, Gibbs finally rolled off the bed and headed downstairs to join the two LA agents who had taken over the living room for their investigation.

 

“Your next door neighbor came by…” Callen said upon seeing the older man come down the stairs.

 

Gibbs grunted disdainfully as he walked past Callen and headed straight towards the kitchen, pouring a large mug of coffee “She’s a nosy busy body – You tell her anything?” Gibbs grumbled as he turned back to Callen.

 

Callen shook his head slowly “No, she doesn’t need to know what’s going on – We just said that we were friends who were visiting…” Callen said, shrugging as he sat down on the couch and began clicking away at the laptop that was connected to the TV, “The security footage didn’t show much…” Callen added as he pressed play on the footage.

 

Gibbs sat down on the couch and stared at the screen, his face going a sickly pale color as he watched Tony collapse and be carried off into the back of a black SUV “You run the plates?  Get facial recognition on those two?” Gibbs asked, pointing towards the two suspects on the screen.

 

Sam nodded as he pulled up the information on a second laptop “SUV is registered to a Lt. Col. Terry Anderson, and that is the man in the video.  The female is Alexis Campbell, she’s a civilian veterinarian technician here on the base, no relation to any active service member.” Sam reported as he looked between his partner and Gibbs.

 

Gibbs shook his head, setting his coffee cup down on the table as he rubbed at his head “Lexi was a friend of Tony’s… Never met Anderson before though.” Gibbs said glumly as he laid back in the corner of the couch, staring up at the ceiling as he blew out a breath of frustration.

 

Gibbs’ worry continued growing, and it was evident on his face, as was the exhaustion that he felt in every limb; he’d spent more time watching the locator than he did sleeping last night, and nothing had changed since he turned it on, and that was nearly twelve hours ago.  Sleeping was hardly an option with Tony out there somewhere, he just hoped that the younger man was keeping strong through all of this and relying on his training more than anything at this point.

 

Sam and Callen shared an odd look as they watched a myriad of emotions cross Gibbs’ face, “Is there anything we can do?” Callen asked sympathetically, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

 

Gibbs shook his head “Not unless you can find Tony sooner…” Gibbs said as he pushed up from the couch, collected his coffee mug and headed out to the backyard, staring down at the lush green grass as he thought about Tony and the many nights they’d spent just sitting on the back porch and talking about anything and everything that they could think of, even if Gibbs didn’t talk much, he did enjoy just listening to Tony talk and lay against him as they snuggled on the hammock.

 

* * *

 

As the hours continued to tick by, Gibbs grew angrier about the fact that they hadn’t been able to locate Tony and that Tony hadn’t activated the GPS system yet.  They were drawing closer to the Three Day mark of Tony being kidnapped, and Gibbs was equally worried and pissed off about the circumstances that they were currently in.

 

The GPS locator had remained on throughout the entire time, and constantly displayed ‘Target Unavailable’ and that made Gibbs’ stomach sink even further every time he looked at it, but he also couldn’t seem to stop looking at it to see if anything had changed.  Often times though, he just wanted to throw the GPS across the room and watch the small electronic device burst into several pieces, but he knew that wouldn’t help anyone at this point.

 

Gibbs sighed as he sat at the piano, plucking at the ivory keys and staring at the GPS tracker, “Come on Tony… Come on.” Gibbs whispered hoarsely, swiping at his eyes tiredly – He hadn’t slept since that first night and he was definitely feeling the exhaustion, but knew he wouldn’t sleep until he had Tony back safely.

 

When the GPS started beeping erratically, Gibbs’ heart nearly jumped out of his throat when the location came up “HE ACTIVATED IT!” Gibbs shouted, pushing away from the piano and bolting towards the living room, “He’s still alive!” Gibbs said, relief flooding him as he handed Callen the GPS locator.

 

Callen took over the locator and raised his eyebrow “That’s about a three hour drive from here – We need to go, like _now._ ” Callen said as he headed for the door, Sam and Gibbs hot on his trail as the three men left the house and got into the challenger.

 

Gibbs sat in the passenger seat of the challenger, staring blankly out of the window as he thought about Tony and all that the younger man would have endured during the three days that he had been missing.  And as much as he didn’t want to, whenever Gibbs would close his eyes, all he could see was Tony lying on the side of the road, beaten and broken, instead of the victims that he’d seen in the past.

 

As they continued driving closer to Tony’s location, Gibbs stomach continued churning and twisting into further knots.  Gibbs wasn’t any less worried about Tony, but now that they knew where he was, the worry had transformed to how bad off Tony would be and the recovery that would come after.

 

The ride to the desert where Tony was being held seemed to take much longer than the three hours that it was, and Gibbs was growing more and more impatient as they got closer to the location.  All of Gibbs’ thoughts continued to circle around Tony, nothing else at that point mattered anymore, and he just wanted Tony back in his arms and safe from harm’s way.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs stared at the worn down warehouse, there wasn’t any sign that would lead him to where Tony was, and there definitely wasn’t even a sign of life anywhere around the rock quarry.  Sam, Callen and Gibbs had searched the entire area where Tony’s locator beacon was blinking, but they’d come up empty and the ground was rock solid – literally – so they knew that he wasn’t buried underground.

 

Gibbs took slow steps towards the warehouse, mentally crossing every finger and toe as he pushed open the steel door and looked around, taking the time to adjust to the new level of low-light as he continued walking into the empty warehouse.  Gibbs’ legs felt like they would fall out from underneath him because of how shaky they were when he came upon the old lift.

 

Gibbs reached for his cellphone, depressing the walkie-talkie button “I think I’ve found something – Get EMS ready…” Gibbs said as he climbed onto the lift and started the downward descend to the lower level of the warehouse.

 

Gibbs shuddered when the cold and damp of the cellar hit him as the lift stopped on the level, he pulled out his flashlight and shone it around the dark hallway.  Gibbs froze in his tracks as his ears were assaulted with the sounds of screaming that echoed from the steel door at the end of the hall, the only relief was that it wasn’t Tony screaming, but that of a female and he could tell from the slightly tinny sound that it had to be a recording rather than another victim.

 

Gibbs wrapped his hand around the metal knob, inhaling deeply as he pushed open the door slowly, shining his flashlight around each corner of the room until the beam centered on Tony’s body.  Tony was curled up around his own body, hiding his face from the light and shivering viciously, his complexion was a sickly gray color and the fine sheen of sweat that dotted his forehead had Gibbs’ heart both breaking and soaring with joy that the younger man was still alive.

 

Gibbs dropped the flashlight and was at Tony’s side within a half a second “Tony… Tony its okay, I’m here now…” Gibbs said soothingly as he reached forward hesitantly, stroking his finger across Tony’s wounded cheek gently.  Gibbs’ heart continued to break as Tony flinched away from his touch “Its okay Tony, it’s all going to be okay.” Gibbs whispered repeatedly as he pulled his lock-pick set out of his pocket, making quick work of the old fashioned shackle cuffs on Tony’s wrists.

 

Tony let out a shuddering sob as his wrists were released, his entire body going into deeper tremors as he clutched at his stomach, screaming out in pure agony as the pain of everything overwhelmed him.  Gibbs finally let his own emotions take over as he sobbed alongside Tony, curling up protectively around Tony and gently rocking the younger man’s body to soothe away his pains, “I’m here now.  I’ve got you Tony and I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore… I promise.” Gibbs whispered against Tony’s forehead, placing feather-light kisses against the cold skin of the younger man’s head.

 

Tony clutched onto Gibbs’ shirt tightly, his heartbreaking sobs slowly turning into short hiccupped sobs “This is real?” Tony whispered hoarsely, coughing viciously against Gibbs’ chest.

 

Gibbs nodded as he rubbed soothingly up and down Tony’s back “Yeah this is real.  I’m really here Tony.” Gibbs assured the younger man, pressing a firm kiss to the younger man’s forehead

 

Tony finally opened his eyes, looking up at Gibbs with a haunted look in his eyes “Wanna go home… Please… Just take me home…” Tony cried out, burying his head against Gibbs’ chest as the shaking grew more vicious with each sob that Tony let out.

 

Unfortunately Gibbs knew he couldn’t just take Tony home, and Tony wouldn’t let anyone touch him except for Gibbs when the paramedics came down to try and help the younger man, so Gibbs was forced to administer a sedative to Tony, and he was both grateful and upset that he had to do it, because he knew how much Tony hated any sort of drugs in his system, but knew that the only way to save Tony’s life was to get him to a hospital and the sooner the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, before I get people confused about Gibbs' being three days ahead, let me explain what is going on;
> 
> Tony has been in complete darkness, so his time perception isn't what it should be - Therefore while he thinks it had only been 24 hours, it was really three days, which Gibbs had to live painfully through without knowing where Tony was.
> 
> If you're still confused about it in the end, then I'm sorry but I cannot really put anymore explanation to it than what I've already done.


	7. Chapter 7

Gibbs spent the next several hours pacing and sitting in the emergency waiting room while Tony was examined, taken for several tests and then ultimately surgery.  The doctor had informed Gibbs only an hour ago of Tony’s physical injuries – Three broken ribs, his knee was completely shattered (which was why he was in surgery), he also did develop pneumonia, then there were the several cuts and bruises that were covering Tony’s body that would eventually heal.

 

The one thing that Gibbs was thankful to not have weighing on his shoulders was finding their suspects – something that Tony was able to tell him before Gibbs gave him the sedative.  So that’s where Sam and Callen were – tracking down Terry and Lexi to arrest them and take them back to the boat house interrogation room.

 

Gibbs was finally able to relax at least a little bit, so he managed to find a semi-comfortable position on the faux leather couch in the waiting room, falling asleep as soon as his head hit his rolled up jacket that he was using as a pillow.

 

Gibbs didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when he felt a strong hand shaking his shoulder to wake him up, opening his eyes he looked up to see the surgeon standing over him.  Gibbs sat up immediately “How is he?” Gibbs asked as he stood up to become eye-level with the surgeon.

 

“He’s sleeping right now.  Surgery was a success.” The surgeon said as he and Gibbs started walking towards Tony’s hospital room “He’s going to need extensive rehab for his knee, and I’m expecting about a seventy-five percent chance of recovery, but he won’t have full function of his knee again.” The doctor said sympathetically, looking through the window at Tony.

 

Gibbs leaned against the frame of the window, staring in at Tony as he thought about and let the words that the surgeon said sink in, “So… He won’t be able to run very well anymore?” Gibbs asked quietly, looking over at the surgeon.

 

The surgeon shook his head “No, unfortunately.  I wouldn’t recommend running for long distances.” The surgeon informed him “Steven’s regular doctor should be by shortly to discuss the other problems that your husband is experiencing.” The surgeon added, squeezing Gibbs’ shoulder reassuringly before heading back down the corridor.

 

Gibbs sighed as he quietly walked into Tony’s hospital room, taking up the reclining chair next to Tony’s hospital bed.  Gibbs linked his fingers with Tony’s, lying his forehead against the back of Tony’s hand as he listened to the slightly labored breaths that Tony was taking. “So sorry Tony… Should have paid more attention…” Gibbs whispered sadly, letting his tears fall silently into the mattress below.

 

The doctor, Marshall Stein, came into the room half an hour later and smiled sadly “How are you holding up Mr. Walker?” Marshall asked as he pulled on a pair of gloves while looking directly at Gibbs.

 

“I’ll be better once I know what’s wrong with Steve…” Gibbs said honestly, looking up at Marshall with reddened eyes, both from exhaustion and the tears that he’d let freely fall since being with Tony for the past thirty minutes.

 

Marshall nodded understandingly “I can understand that.  Steve has Bacterial Pneumonia, and we currently have him on high-dose antibiotics, supplemental oxygen and when he wakes up we’ll begin breathing treatments to help loosen the fluids.  The cut on his sternum needed approximately twenty stitches so that it will heal properly.  All of the cuts on his face, arms and legs were all superficial and won’t even be noticeable within a week, same for the more noticeable bruises on his body.  The three ribs that are broken will heal within six weeks, and I’m sure that Doctor Lee has already explained to you the limitations about Steve’s knee?” Marshall asked as he carefully inspected the sutures on Tony’s knee.

 

Gibbs nodded as he watched Marshall continue his exam of Tony’s sutures “Yeah, do you agree with Doctor Lee’s assessment?  That he’ll only recover seventy-five percent mobility of his knee?” Gibbs asked curiously, his eyebrow arching upward slightly.

 

Marshall sighed as he nodded his head “Unfortunately I do agree with Dr. Lee’s assessment, the damage to Steve’s knee was extensive and he needed a total knee replacement.  After rehab, he will be able to get around again, but his mobility will be limited.” Marshall said as he snapped off the gloves and grabbed Tony’s chart, writing down everything that needed to be written, “I’ll be back in two hours to check on him.” Marshall added as he headed for the door, sparing one last glance at the two men before leaving the room.

 

Gibbs sighed as he stood up and kissed Tony’s forehead tenderly “I’m gonna get ya through this Tony… I promise.” Gibbs whispered against Tony’s forehead, letting a single stray teardrop ride down his cheek.

 

Tony opened his eyes slowly as he squeezed Gibbs’ hand, “I’m sorry…” Tony whispered hoarsely, slowly pulling down the oxygen mask from his nose and mouth, unshed tears dancing in his eyes as he looked into the calming sea of blue eyes above him.

 

Gibbs shook his head, pressing a tender kiss to Tony’s lips “I know, I know you are babe… I just… I need to know why… Why did you wait so long?” Gibbs asked in a non-accusatory tone, holding Tony’s hand just a bit tighter.

 

Tony inhaled shakily “I was scared… I… The darkness… it was so much… I know we talked… about activating it… in a day… but… I didn’t know… I didn’t know it was… three days…” Tony said through gasped breaths, the tears that were dancing in his eyes now slowly tracking down the sides of his face.

 

Gibbs settled the oxygen mask back over Tony’s nose and mouth “Shhh, stop.  We’ll talk about it later, you need to rest.” Gibbs said lovingly as he kissed the side of Tony’s head lightly “I’ll be here, just go back to sleep Tony…” Gibbs said reassuringly as he sat back down on the stiff recliner chair and continuing to hold onto Tony’s hand as the younger man fell back asleep rather quickly from the drugs still coursing through his body.

 

* * *

 

Over the next several hours, Gibbs went between watching Tony sleeping to sleeping himself, even with all the doctors and nurses coming in and checking on Tony, the two men managed to sleep through a greater portion of the day.  Tony had woken up several times though, screaming or crying from night terrors that were constantly coming up to the surface.

 

Gibbs found that the only way Tony would sleep for more than an hour at a time, was that sleeping with Tony in the small hospital bed with his arms wrapped around Tony’s body worked, affording the younger man longer lengths of sleep than just an hour.  “I’m a burden already…” Tony whispered as the two men lay in the dark of the hospital room.

 

Gibbs shook his head and kissed Tony’s temple lightly “You’re not a burden.  Told you I’d be here for ya, and I ain’t turning back on those words any time soon.” Gibbs said reassuringly, gently carding his fingers through Tony’s hair.

 

Tony nodded as he laid his head against Gibbs’ chest, sighing quietly “What about work?  Don’t you have to get back to DC?” Tony asked quietly, mindful that they were still under aliases for their case.

 

Gibbs smiled as he kissed the top of Tony’s head “I’m not leaving you here.  And the case is still ongoing… So, I’m here until that’s wrapped up and then afterwards I’m here until it’s safe to take you home.” Gibbs said sincerely as he rubbed his hand up and down Tony’s arm slowly.

 

Tony sniffled slightly “I’m defective… Why would you stay?  I can’t possibly go back to working at NCIS after I get out of here…” Tony said as he pulled away from Gibbs as best he could with the limited space and lack of mobility he had.

 

Gibbs sat up on the bed, looking down at Tony with a raised eyebrow “You’re not defective Tony!  How could you even think that?” Gibbs asked, shaking his head as he gripped Tony’s jaw and turned the younger man to face him “I’m staying because I love you Tony, and who cares if you can go back to NCIS or not?  NCIS isn’t what made you who you are, and it’s not why I fell in love with you, it doesn’t matter to me what you do.” Gibbs said honestly, staring into Tony’s eyes with a whole new intensity that was equal measures passion and seriousness.

 

Tony shook his head as tears started tracking down his cheeks, Gibbs sighed as he pulled Tony back against his chest, holding onto the younger man’s body as it shook with silent sobs “I really do love you Tony, has nothing to do with the case… Loved you for a long time, and I won’t stop.” Gibbs whispered reassuringly as he soothed up and down Tony’s back and arm until he fell asleep in Gibbs’ arms, residual tears still tracking down his cheeks.

 

Gibbs laid there long after Tony had fallen asleep, continually caressing Tony’s side and shoulder while listening to his slightly labored breathing.  Gibbs hated not being able to do anything for Tony, and hated that he couldn’t go out and find the bastards who’d put Tony in this state of distress.  All Gibbs felt like doing was hanging both Lexi and Terry up by their painful bits and doing to them what they’d done to Tony.

 

* * *

 

Over the course of the next few days, Tony had gone through several breathing treatments and was finally able to come off the supplemental oxygen and now the physical therapist – Dean Kessler - was standing in the room with some alien-looking contraption “This is a continuous passive motion machine.  You’ll have to use this to start with, until your pneumonia clears up.  It’ll help improve the strength in your knee and once you’re able to get around without the wheezing, we’ll start working with you on walking again, and putting pressure down on your knee.” Kessler said as he positioned the CPM on the bed, then carefully helped Tony get his leg into the contraption.

 

Tony clenched his fists around the sheet as his leg was moved, his eyes locked onto Gibbs’ face, thankful for the older man’s presence as it distracted him from the pain that felt like white hot stakes being stabbed into his knee “How much is this going to hurt?” Tony asked through clenched teeth, glancing at the therapist briefly.

 

Kessler shook his head “You won’t feel any pain for the first few days, we’ll have you on a femoral block and then we’ll slowly ween you off of that so that the pain will come gradually.  You will have to get used to the pain because it could last anywhere from four to six months.” Kessler explained as he hooked up the controls and set them beside Tony.

 

Tony nodded, swiping at his teary eyes angrily “Okay… Just get the damn thing started already.” Tony said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared up at the ceiling – tears slowly sliding down the sides of his temples.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he came to stand next to Tony, while the therapist got the femoral block set up “You’re gonna be alright Tony… I’m right here if you need me.” Gibbs said reassuringly, wrapping his hand around Tony’s hand firmly.

 

Kessler started the CPM, watching as Tony’s leg started moving with the machinery at a slow rate “The control manages the speed and angle, which you can adjust at any time.  Keep this going for two hours for now, and when you go to sleep keep it moving at a slower setting.” Kessler instructed, looking between Tony and Gibbs, making sure at least one of them were paying attention to his instructions.

 

Gibbs nodded “Got it Doc, thanks.  I’ll make sure he does as requested.” Gibbs said as he looked down at Tony and smiled slightly.

 

Tony rolled his eyes as he turned his head away from Gibbs, a scowl firmly set in place as he stared out of the window at the hospital buildings across the way.  Kessler nodded as he headed out of the room, leaving the two men alone “Now what’s wrong?” Gibbs asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his thumb across the back of Tony’s hand lightly.

 

Tony shook his head “Nothing!  Nothing is wrong!  Just… Just get out!” Tony shouted as loudly as he could, his chest heaving and his breathing becoming erratic as even more tears rode down his cheeks, pulling his hand away from Gibbs’ hand.

 

Gibbs sighed, “Alright.  I’ll just be out in the hall if you need me.” Gibbs said quietly, patting Tony’s shoulder before heading out of the room and leaning against the wall, letting out a breath of exasperation.  Gibbs knew that caring for Tony in this capacity would have its challenges, but the sudden anger from Tony was completely unexpected and blindsided Gibbs completely.

 

“Colonel Walker, how is he doing?” a familiar female voice asked.  Gibbs slowly looked up to see Hetty standing there and he let out a small smile.

 

“Doing as well as to be expected.  He’s a little angry right now and kicked me out of the room.  How is the case coming along?  Has the OSP found them yet?” Gibbs asked quietly, a hopeful hint in his tone.

 

Hetty sighed quietly “We’ve found Colonel Anderson.  He went back to the quarry, about an hour after Steven was rescued, but Ms. Campbell was not with him and we’re still looking for her, she’s completely vanished, but we _will_ find her.” Hetty said confidently, setting her hand on Gibbs’ forearm and squeezing lightly.

 

Gibbs nodded “For her sake she better hope you guys find her before I do…” Gibbs said angrily as he straightened up, turning to look at Tony who was still curled up around himself.  Gibbs frowned slightly as he watched the slight shudder of Tony’s body, knowing the younger man was still crying and wanting nothing more than to just be in there with him.

 

Hetty shook her head slightly “Be there with him, even if he says get out.  He needs you more than he seems willing to admit.  We will handle finding Ms. Campbell and we’re keeping Colonel Anderson in a holding cell until we do find her.” Hetty said as she turned and headed back towards the elevators.

 

Gibbs sighed as he walked back into the room, Tony glanced at him and moved over slightly in invitation.  Gibbs smiled as he climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Tony’s upper torso, holding the younger man to his chest as Tony clutched at his shirt and continued sobbing quietly into his shirt, large pools of tears sinking into Gibbs’ shirt.  Gibbs rubbed soothingly across Tony’s back and shoulders, whispering soothing reassurances into Tony’s ear until he settled down and fell asleep in Gibbs’ arms, still clutching tightly to his shirt.


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs came into Tony’s hospital room holding a hot box of Tony’s favorite pizza – Tony had been in the hospital for a little over a month now, and that was his one constant craving, the doctor’s had finally lifted his dietary restrictions that morning and Gibbs thought it to be a nice surprise for the younger man to lift up his spirits.

 

Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks as he stared at Tony’s empty hospital bed; Tony wasn’t scheduled for physical therapy today, and also wasn’t meant to be moving around without assistance.  Gibbs quickly set the pizza down on the rolling tray table and headed to the closed bathroom door, knocking on it loudly “Steven, are you in there?” Gibbs asked, pressing his ear to the door.

 

“Yeah… I’m here…” Tony replied, his breathing slightly labored – He’d finally gotten over the pneumonia but still got easily winded.  “The door is unlocked…” Tony added, a dry coughing fit following his words.

 

Gibbs pushed the door open, frowning as he saw Tony sitting dejectedly on the closed toilet seat “What are you doing in here?” Gibbs asked curiously as he crouched in front of Tony, who was only dressed in a pair of thin cotton shorts, a t-shirt draped over his shoulder.

 

Tony looked towards the shower stall “I just… I wanted to take a shower.  Tired of being helped with doing everything, thought if I could just do this _one_ thing… That I’d feel normal again…” Tony said quietly, shaking his head as he rubbed at his knee slightly “But I couldn’t stand up on my own long enough to even turn the water on.” Tony added, looking down at Gibbs and shaking his head.

 

Gibbs sighed as he carded his fingers through Tony’s hair lightly “What if I helped you?  Would that make a difference?” Gibbs asked softly, brushing his thumb lightly over Tony’s cheek and smiling.

 

Tony shrugged as he leaned into Gibbs’ touch “I don’t know, maybe?” Tony said, sighing as he laid his forehead against Gibbs’ shoulder.

 

Gibbs nodded as he kissed the side of Tony’s head, slowly standing up and stripping down to his boxers, he then carefully helped Tony out of his shorts, setting them and his t-shirt on the sink counter.  “Alright, you ready?” Gibbs asked after he’d turned on the water to Tony’s desired heat and moved the shower seat underneath the sprayer.

 

Tony nodded as he wrapped his hands around Gibbs’ forearms, slowly pulling himself up to his feet “Let’s do this before we get into trouble.” Tony said, laughing softly as he and Gibbs shuffled towards the shower together “Aren’t you going to take your boxers off?” Tony asked, looking down at the plaid blue boxers that Gibbs was wearing.

 

Gibbs shook his head and kissed Tony tenderly on the lips before settling him on the shower seat “Don’t worry about my boxers, you’re taking the shower, not me.” Gibbs said as he pulled the curtain shut, standing behind Tony and gently massaging into the younger man’s shoulders “Now do what you can, and I’ll help you with the rest.” Gibbs added as he handed Tony his shampoo.

 

Tony tilted his head back and smiled slightly “I don’t think I can do any of it.” Tony said, his smile widening as he squirted a bit of shampoo into his hand and then lathering the citrusy scent into his hair.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he snagged Tony’s soap and poured some into his palm, “Alright, I’ll do your back, you do your front until you can’t anymore…” Gibbs said as he began lathering Tony’s back up with the soap “This is better than a sponge bath with a nurse, huh?” Gibbs asked, looking up from his crouched position into Tony’s sparkling green eyes.

 

Tony nodded as he carded a soapy hand through Gibbs hair, smiling lightly “Yeah but I mean, some of the nurses were pretty cute… They just… Didn’t get this reaction.” Tony said, nodding towards his hardening erection.

 

Gibbs laughed as he kissed the back of Tony’s neck “Can’t do anything about that today.  Maybe when you get out, we’ll fix this problem.” Gibbs said softly against the shell of Tony’s ear.

 

Tony sighed, laying his head against Gibbs’ shoulder as the older man sat down next to him on the shower seat “And do you know how much longer that will be?” Tony asked as he reached forward, turning off the shower water then looking at Gibbs curiously.

 

“Doctor’s think you should be able to go home tomorrow, if you’re up to it… And you know you’ll have to wear a stabilizer brace for a few weeks.  You gonna be okay with that?” Gibbs asked as he reached over to the towel rack, grabbing two towels and handing one over to Tony while he used the other to dry his hair and body off.

 

Tony nodded as he dried himself off, then settled the towel down on the floor beneath his feet “I don’t have a choice in the matter.  I want to get better, and if that means I have to wear a brace, then I have to wear a brace… I just wanna go home.” Tony said sincerely as he wrapped his arms around Gibbs’ shoulders, slowly standing up as Gibbs helped him to his feet.

 

Gibbs helped Tony get dressed in a clean pair of shorts and a shirt, then stripped out of his soaked boxers, pulling his discarded clothes back on “I know you want to go home, and you will, if you stop trying to do things without someone at least being with you…” Gibbs said as he handed Tony his crutches, watching as the younger man stood up and slowly hobbled back into the room.

 

* * *

 

After Tony and Gibbs had eaten the cold pizza – Tony’s absolute favorite – they laid back on the hospital bed, Tony lying against Gibbs’ chest with Gibbs’ arms wrapped around him “So how is the case going?  You don’t talk much about it…” Tony asked quietly, tilting his head back to look up at Gibbs.

 

Gibbs sighed as he rubbed Tony’s chest soothingly “Lexi is still in the wind, but the OSP thinks they’re getting closer to finding her than what they were last month.  And Colonel Anderson has confessed to everything after Sam and Callen tag teamed him in a bit of an unusual way.” Gibbs said just as quietly, continuing to caressing Tony’s chest.

 

Tony sighed as he turned slightly, propping a pillow underneath his knee “What did Anderson have to say?” Tony asked, lying his head in the center of Gibbs chest, drawing a random pattern against the older man’s stomach.

 

Gibbs frowned slightly, he really didn’t think telling Tony everything that Terry had said would be beneficial to Tony’s wellbeing and recovery, but also knew that not telling him could be just as devastating. “At first… He was reluctant to say anything, but once Sam and Callen had him open up to them… It was like a dam had burst wide open.  Terry’s father is where all of this apparently started, when he was sixteen he got caught with a boyfriend, and… I mean, I’m not going to try and make excuses for this guy, but back then, being gay was sorely frowned upon… His father was the religious type, and ended up sending him to a conversion therapy camp, which… I guess didn’t work out, so his father forced him to enlist in the marines… Terry had no choice but to repress his feelings towards men, and for the next forty years he’d been trying to find a relationship that would meet his father’s standards…” Gibbs began explaining, his hand ceaselessly moving on Tony’s shoulders to keep the younger man calm.

 

Tony nodded, glancing up at Gibbs briefly, so he knew to continue “When Terry’s father died, a year and a half ago – when all of the victims started turning up – something snapped inside of him, and he started taking out his anger on those who were in loving relationships.  Lexi’s involvement was simple, she was in love with Terry, and he knew… He used her, by getting the people of his choosing to become friends with her, gaining their trust and then setting up the situations for the kidnappings…” Gibbs said, shaking his head as he looked down at Tony, gauging the younger man’s response.

 

Tony sighed as he curled up around Gibbs’ body the best he could without jostling his knee “So, now all that’s left is finding Lexi… Do you think I’ll have to testify or anything?” Tony asked quietly.

 

Gibbs furrowed his brows as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s body, feeling the subtle tremors of Tony’s body “I don’t think you will.  Not with Terry’s full confession of his and Lexi’s involvement.” Gibbs said, kissing the top of Tony’s head tenderly, “Told ya that I’d get you through this Tony.” Gibbs whispered as he rubbed up and down Tony’s back soothingly.

 

Tony nodded slightly “Still don’t know why, but… I’m glad you’re here, Jethro.” Tony whispered, sliding his hand underneath Gibbs’ shirt and sighing contentedly from the heat radiating from the older man’s stomach.

 

Gibbs sighed “You want me to stay with you tonight?” he asked while carding his fingers tenderly through Tony’s hair, massaging into the younger man’s scalp.  Tony nodded as he twisted his fingers around the inside of Gibbs’ shirt, “Alright.  Go to sleep Tony, I’ll be here when ya wake up.” Gibbs said as he adjusted to a more comfortable position with Tony, both men falling asleep within minutes of each other.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs pulled the SUV up to the front doors of the hospital, sighing as he watched the nurse’s aide wheel Tony out – Something that was adamantly protested by Tony, claiming that what was the point of having crutches if he couldn’t use them to get out of the hospital by himself.  Gibbs knew that caring for Tony in this state was going to continue to get increasingly difficult, especially with Tony becoming increasingly agitated with his physical limitations at this point.

 

Gibbs got out of the SUV and came over to Tony who had his arms wrapped tightly around his chest “I can do it myself!  Why don’t you get that?!” Tony growled at the young aide, who couldn’t have been more than twenty.

 

The nurse’s aide sighed quietly “Mr. Gray, it is policy that all patients be wheeled out of the hospital and helped into their vehicles!” she protested, not deterred by Tony’s attitude or anger.

 

Tony looked up at Gibbs pleadingly, “I can help him, Meredith, that won’t be a problem, will it?” Gibbs asked, looking at the aide with a small smile on his face as he grasped Tony’s shoulder, tightly.

 

Meredith rolled her eyes “You two are the most stubborn pair of men I’ve ever met!” she complained lightheartedly, grinning sweetly at both men as Gibbs slowly helped Tony up to his feet and into the passenger seat.

 

“I take that as a compliment.” Gibbs said, winking at the younger girl then turning to Tony who had an affronted look on his face.  Meredith quickly went back into the hospital, and Gibbs shut the door and quickly got into the driver’s seat and sighed “God I am so glad that this nightmare is over…” Gibbs said in exasperation.

 

Tony scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring out of the window as they started pulling away from the hospital “You were flirting with Meredith…” Tony stated angrily, glancing at Gibbs then back out of the window.

 

“I wasn’t flirting with Meredith!  How… How did you get that idea?!” Gibbs questioned, looking over at Tony with a slight frown on his face at the angered expression on Tony’s face.

 

Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head “Then what was with the wink and the ‘ _I take that as a compliment_ ’?!  That sounds like flirting to me!” Tony stated, glaring at Gibbs angrily now.

 

Gibbs sighed as he pulled out his base ID, showing it to the guard at the gate “I wasn’t _flirting_ with Meredith, Tony… I was simply stating a fact… I didn’t mean to wink, it was just an automatic response… I’m sorry.” Gibbs said, parking the SUV in their driveway.

 

Tony shook his head as he pushed the door open and grabbed his crutches “I don’t wanna talk about it right now…” Tony said as he carefully moved down from the seat and across the lawn to the front door.

 

Gibbs followed Tony to the door and unlocked it, watching as Tony hobbled into the living room and curled up on the couch.  Gibbs hated the dejected look on Tony’s face, he just wished he knew what Tony was thinking or feeling so he could fix it, because losing Tony before their relationship really had a chance to begin was not an option at this point.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in DC, Abby was pacing back and forth in front of McGee’s desk “Nobody has heard from Gibbs or Tony in a month!  What has happened to them?!” Abby asked frantically, looking between McGee and Ziva.

 

McGee shook his head “Don’t know Abs… We’ve tried contacting them, but neither of them has picked up or emailed back…” McGee said, pulling up his email and checking through it.

 

“I’ve got nothing as well…” Ziva said as she stood up from her desk and joined her two colleagues, perching on top of Tony’s desk and looking between Abby and McGee curiously.

 

“What if Tony and Gibbs aren’t coming back?  What if they decided they were going to stay in LA with the OSP?  Or they were both kidnapped?  Or…” Abby started rambling, quickly cut off by McGee’s hand cupping over her mouth.

 

“I’m sure if any of those scenarios were true, Vance would have informed us… Or Tony and Gibbs would have said something – All of their stuff is still here in DC, so why would they not come back Abby?” McGee questioned reasonably, looking directly into the goths eyes.

 

Director Vance came around the corner of the bullpen at that moment, shaking his head slightly as he withdrew his toothpick from between his teeth “Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo will be returning to DC.  I cannot tell you when, as even I do not know that information yet.  Right now though, Gibbs has been focusing on DiNozzo’s recovery after being rescued… I’ve been in contact with Gibbs as of an hour ago, and he assures me that they are both fine, they are just waiting for their last suspect to be found and arrested.  Agent McGee, if you could…” Vance said, handing McGee a sealed envelope “That is all the information on Alexis Campbell that the OSP managed to dig up, see if they missed anything and assist them in finding her in any way that you can.” Vance said, sticking the toothpick back into his mouth and heading back upstairs to his office.

 

McGee pulled the confidential seal off the envelope and sighed as he dumped the contents out onto his desk, rifling through the pages “They have quite a lot of information on her…” McGee commented idly as he read through the papers “Seems that they lost her trail somewhere between San Diego and Mexicali – Apparently she has dual citizenship in both America and Mexico…” McGee added as he handed a few pages over to Ziva, and a few over to Abby.

 

“So, we find her – Tony and Gibbs get to come home!  I’m so on it!” Abby said, whirling around on her heel and clomping off back down to her lab with a bit more enthusiasm than she had earlier in the evening.

 

McGee sighed as he set aside the papers “She’s right – We have to find this Alexis person… Even if she’s in Mexico…” McGee said tiredly as he began pulling up databases and typing rapidly into his computer.

 

Ziva nodded as she headed back towards her desk “I have a few contacts in Mexico that I can call…” Ziva said, mostly to herself as she sat down and picked up her desk phone, dialing the first of several contacts.

 

* * *

 

Tony sighed as he slowly made his way out onto the back porch where Gibbs was whittling a block of wood.  Tony lowered himself down into one of the Adirondack chairs and looked over at Gibbs “I’m sorry about this morning… I kind of lost my cool.” Tony said quietly, twisting his hands together nervously.

 

Gibbs nodded as he set the block of wood down and turned towards Tony “Yeah, ya kind of did… and I forgive you for that… I really didn’t mean to upset you.” Gibbs said as he reached his hand out towards Tony.

 

Tony smiled slightly as he interlocked his hand with Gibbs’ hand “I know, and that’s something I have to work on.  I’ve… always had insecurities when it comes to relationships… I guess… I don’t know what happened Gibbs, I really don’t… Everything is just… so messed up now.” Tony said quietly, shaking his head as he looked down at the porch, swiping at his eyes with his other hand.

 

Gibbs sighed as he moved over to the wide chair and sat down next to Tony, wrapping his arm around Tony’s shoulder and pulling the younger man closer “You don’t gotta be insecure in our relationship, Tony… You know I’m loyal to a fault, I ain’t goin’ nowhere.  And everything _is_ messed up, but we’ll get through it – You’re stronger than you know, and you can overcome this, and I will be there, one hundred percent of the way.” Gibbs said softly, kissing the top of Tony’s head and smiling sadly.

 

Tony nodded as he snuggled into Gibbs’ side, “I think I’m starting to get that.  Don’t know about my being strong, but as long as I have you with me… I think I can do just about anything.  Thank you, Gibbs, for just being you and not letting me give up when I didn’t think I’d get through it.” Tony whispered, wrapping his arm around Gibbs’ stomach lightly and smiling up at the older man.

 

Gibbs smiled as he leaned down slightly and kissed Tony softly on the lips “Love you Tony.” Gibbs whispered as he slid his hand into Tony’s hair and continued kissing the younger man softly and lovingly. 

 

Tony whimpered against Gibbs’ lips, his fingers curling around the fabric of the older man’s shirt as the kiss grew more passionate and heavy.  “We should stop.” Tony murmured against Gibbs’ lips, both breathing heavier than before as they looked into each other’s eyes.

 

Gibbs nodded as he continued pressing feather-light kisses against Tony’s lips “We should… You’re right…” Gibbs whispered as his fingers slowly began working open Tony’s button up shirt.

 

Tony chuckled as he gathered Gibbs’ questing hands and pinned them to his chest “That’s not stopping.” Tony whispered as he rested his forehead in the curve of Gibbs’ nose.

 

Gibbs smirked as he nipped at Tony’s bottom lip gently “A guy can try, can’t he?” Gibbs questioned as he relaxed backwards and propped his feet up on the porch banister, gently rubbing up and down Tony’s arm and shoulder.

 

Tony shrugged as he snuggled back into Gibbs’ embrace, sighing contentedly as he drew random patterns along Gibbs’ chest and stomach “I suppose so, but… we really should wait, like we said we would… At least until we’re back in DC, the comfort of one of our own homes…” Tony said softly, tilting his head back to look up at Gibbs curiously.

 

Gibbs nodded, kissing Tony’s forehead tenderly as he snuggled against Tony’s side as well “Shouldn’t be much longer… Vance is putting McGee and Abby on the case, and you know those two can find pretty much anyone at any time…” Gibbs said, chuckling softly as he carded his fingers through Tony’s hair soothingly.

  

Tony smiled slightly “That’s good… Can’t wait to get home… Don’t ever wanna come to San Diego again…” Tony whispered sadly.  As he thought about it, he really did just want to go back to DC and get back to at least somewhat of a normal life, even if he couldn’t have NCIS, he knew that he would at least have Gibbs by his side no matter what he decided on doing with his future, something he would have to think about if he couldn’t recover mobility beyond the predicted seventy-five percent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't 100% satisfied with this chapter, I really hope that it works for you guys though! Hope that Chapter 9 strikes more inspiration for me and I can get this wrapped up soon!!


	9. Chapter 9

Three days later, after endless hours of scouring video footage from traffic cameras and satellite imagery, McGee, Ziva and Abby were exhausted but things were finally starting to look up for two of the three remaining MCRT team members.

 

“Anything?” Tim mumbled tiredly, turning his head towards Abby who was in the same state of sleep-deprivation, her head burrowed in her arms as she tapped impatiently with long manicured nails on the metal top of her work station.

 

Abby glanced up at her computer, shaking her head slowly “Not yet… Still running facial r-…” she’d started to say but was interrupted by her computer beeping, signaling that it had found something “recognition!  Found her!  Or, at least her latest location!” Abby said excitedly as she sat up and began tapping away at her keyboard rapidly.

 

McGee lifted his head tiredly, resting his cheek on his closed fist as he watched Abby’s fingers fly a mile a minute, they had little doubt in the beginning that they would ever find Lexi, but she had made a crucial mistake only a few hours ago by using her credit card at a convenience store and were able to track her from traffic cameras afterwards, “Please… I really just want to go home and sleep!” McGee begged, staring desperately at the computer that was now cycling through satellite images for the past twenty-four hours.

 

“So far I’ve seen her entering and exiting this bungalow looking house thing at least a dozen times… So I would think it’s a safe bet that this is where she’s holed up.” Abby said, lacking her usual peppiness as she pointed her finger at the house on the satellite image that she’d paused with Lexi getting into a beat-up looking SUV.

 

McGee nodded as he stood up, hovering over Abby’s shoulders as he typed something into the keyboard and pulling up the geo-location of the satellite location “That’s good work Abs, I’ll make sure to put this on your ‘IOU Caf-Pow’ registry for Gibbs.” McGee said, kissing the back of Abby’s head.  He quickly jotted the coordinates down and then darted out of the lab to head up to director Vance’s office with their newly acquired information.

 

McGee was ushered immediately into Vance’s office by Cynthia “What have you got McGee?” Vance asked as he stood up, buttoning the center button on his suit coat and walking around his desk to join McGee at the six-seater conference table.

 

“We’ve got Alexis’ geo-location.  She’s in a semi-remote location in Mexicali.” McGee said matter-of-factly as he set the post-it note down on the table, poking at the sloppily scribbled numbers on the paper.

 

Vance nodded, squeezing McGee’s shoulder before lifting the post-it note up “Good job McGee.  Tell Ms. Sciuto that I owe her one of those disgusting red drinks that she enjoys so much – I have to get in contact with the LA office now.” Vance said by way of dismissal as he headed back towards his desk while McGee left the office and pulled the heavy oak door shut behind him.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs bounded up the front porch steps, feeling invigorated and excited for the first time since Tony had been released from the hospital – Good news always did brighten his spirits, but telling Tony that they’d probably get to go back home to DC in a few days was better than good and he couldn’t wait to tell him, “Tony!  Where ya at?!” Gibbs called out as soon as he shut the front door and locked it.

 

Tony showed up in the kitchen entry way, dangling precariously on the arms of his crutches “In here…” Tony said tiredly, as if he’d just ran a marathon rather than hobbling a few steps away from the fridge door.

 

Gibbs came into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water from the open fridge door “What’s wrong?” Gibbs asked in concern, noticing the slightly winded breathing coming from the younger man.

 

Tony shook his head slowly as he deposited himself onto one of the barstools at the kitchen island “Hungry… Tired… Thirsty…” Tony listed off his current ailments “Bit of pain…” he added, looking down at his knee that was wrapped securely in the stabilizing brace.

 

Gibbs sighed as he set his own bottle of water down “Alright – Well, which would you like to deal with first?  Pain, Hunger, Tiredness, Thirst or the Good news that I just received from Hetty?” Gibbs asked, grinning slightly as he looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

 

Tony shrugged as he leaned his chin on the hard rubberized arm of the crutch “Good news and food?” Tony suggested tiredly, tilting his head slightly as he watched Gibbs, who quickly set to work pulling out the fixings for an authentic Italian sub – Something Tony insisted on being present in the house at all times.

 

“McGee and Abby found Lexi’s location – she’s somewhere in Mexicali… Hetty is sending Sam and Callen down there right now as we speak to go and pick her up… So, we should be out of San Diego within a couple of days, if not less.” Gibbs informed the younger man while assembling the sub sandwich, watching as Tony’s entire facial expression lit up like a Christmas tree.

 

“That’s amazing!  Great news!  Best news, _EVER_!  I can’t…” Tony stopped midsentence and stared blankly at Gibbs for a long while as thousands of thoughts and words passed by in his mind “Is this going to change things… us?” Tony asked quietly, looking down at the granite counter top sadly.

 

Gibbs sighed, shaking his head as he set the sub in front of Tony and then crouched in front of the younger man, resting his palm on Tony’s cheek “It won’t change anything between us Tony… I told you, I’m in it for the long haul – You’re _it_ for me Tony… Don’t want anyone else.” Gibbs said sincerely as he stood back up and kissed Tony’s forehead tenderly “Stop trying to get rid of me, you know I ain’t that easy.” Gibbs tossed over his shoulder as he headed to the living room and turned on the TV, collapsing into the corner of the couch.

 

Tony sighed as he stood up, grabbing the plate with his sub and a bottle of Gatorade, and then as carefully as possible made his way into the living room without the aid of his crutches “I’m… I’m not trying to get rid of you.” Tony said quietly as he slowly dropped onto the couch, setting his drink and food down on the coffee table, then turning towards Gibbs “I’m just worried, that once we’re back home… All of this easiness will change… You’ve… You’ve been so…” Tony waved his hand helplessly and turned back to his sub, taking a huge bite out of it to avoid further conversation.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he leaned over, placing a gentle kiss behind Tony’s ear “I’ve been so what, Tony?  You can tell me…” Gibbs whispered against the shell of Tony’s ear.

 

Tony had to suppress the automatic response of shuddering at Gibbs’ deepened voice and the heat radiating off the older man even as the blush creeped up his own face.  Tony really hated that even after being with Gibbs for three months now that he still had this reaction and couldn’t control it “Just… been so nice… and… helpful… I… I don’t… know how… to… thank you…” Tony whispered, his breath hitching as Gibbs kept breathing warmly against his ear – a highly sensitive spot for him, as evidenced by the tenting in his shorts from his erection.

 

Gibbs shook his head “Don’t have to thank me Tony, not for doing something I wanted to do.” Gibbs said as he kissed the sensitive spot once again and pulled back, a devilish smirk on his face at the quick reaction that he’d gotten from Tony.

 

Tony sighed as he went back to diligently eating his sub sandwich, trying with everything inside of him to ignore the closeness of Gibbs’ body to his and the persistent erection pressing against the soft cotton of his shorts, Tony opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Gibbs smiled “Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?  I’ve seen you completely naked and with an erection… So what’s changed with you?” Gibbs asked, turning to look at Tony curiously.

 

Tony shrugged as he rubbed his sweaty palms against his shorts “I’m not sure… It’s just… I’ve… I’ve never really had a relationship with another guy… I mean, yeah, I’ve done _other_ things… but… You’re the first…” Tony shook his head, an ashamed look on his face as he looked down at the floor, blinking a couple of times to erase the tears that had suddenly sprung up.

 

Gibbs frowned as he moved over, placing one leg behind Tony’s back and the other dangling off the couch as he pulled Tony to his chest, kissing the top of Tony’s head tenderly “Relax… Told you we’d take this slow… One step at a time, and no pressure to do anything.” Gibbs said reassuringly as he rubbed Tony’s chest and stomach soothingly.

 

Tony nodded as he curled up against Gibbs’ chest, pulling his legs up carefully onto the couch as he and Gibbs laid back on the couch, “I’m really trying but… It’s just not easy for me… You’re the… longest relationship I’ve ever had… and we’ve only had a handful of dates… If you can consider staking out bars and stuff dates.” Tony said, laughing slightly as he turned his head to look up at Gibbs.

 

Gibbs shook his head and kissed Tony softly on the lips “They were dates, sure we weren’t really _us_ on these dates, but the feelings were all real… Now shut up and take a nap, you’re exhausted… Even I can feel that.” Gibbs said, chuckling as he continued his soothing strokes over Tony’s bare torso that he knew would relax the younger man and Tony eventually did fall asleep, safely wrapped up in Gibbs’ arms.

 

* * *

 

Sam and Callen pulled up outside of the small bungalow home, eyeing the one story home suspiciously and the beat up SUV in the dirt driveway, “Looks like she’s home.” Sam commented dryly as he put their rented vehicle in park.

 

Callen nodded “You ever wonder why we didn’t get assigned for this operation?” Callen asked idly as the two men moved to the back of their vehicle to collect their bullet-proof vests and weaponry.

 

Sam chuckled slightly “You and me, as a gay couple?  That’s hardly a possibility…” Sam said, shaking his head as he settled his gun into its holster and sighed “I don’t know… Maybe Vance knew more than he was letting on when he assigned Gibbs and DiNozzo to this case.” Sam added, shrugging as he and Callen started towards the bungalow.

 

Callen shrugged as he and Sam positioned themselves on either side of the door “We could have pulled off a gay couple – You the military man… Me the homebody…” Callen said as he reached up, knocking loudly on the door “FEDERAL AGENTS!” Callen shouted then remained silent as they listened intently.

 

There was a slight scuffling inside and then a few seconds later, they heard the backdoor slamming shut “Damn it!” Sam ground out as he bounced over the railing of the porch and bolted for the backyard, sprinting after the flighty little veterinarian assistant who was fast, but not nearly as fast as Sam was.

 

Sam and Lexi had gotten several yards away from the bungalow before the big man had tackled Lexi to the ground, Callen came up a few seconds later watching as Sam placed cuffs around Lexi’s wrists and stood her up “Nice of you to show up.” Sam said gruffly as he hoisted the squirming Lexi up to her feet.

 

Callen smirked slightly “You seemed to have everything under control, no point in having two people chase one person.” Callen said nonchalantly as the two men guided Lexi back to their waiting vehicle, reading Lexi her rights while walking.

 

Sam and Callen stood outside of their car, looking at each other over the roof of the car “She doesn’t look the type to be a part of this scheme…” Sam commented, glancing in at Lexi – she was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a plaid long-sleeved shirt, her orange-red hair tied up in a tight braid down her back; she was skinny and unassuming, someone you wouldn’t guess to be anything but nice and sweet.

 

“Just goes to show you that love will make anyone do anything that the person they’re in love with asks of them.” Callen said as he slid into the passenger seat of the car, a blank expression on his face as he stared out of the front window as Sam got in and drove them away from the hide-out.

 

Throughout the ride, Sam was confused by the cold-shoulder he was getting from his partner, someone he’d worked closely with for years now and had spent several holidays together with his family.  Was even the adopted uncle of his two children and a great friend to hang out with and play basketball with when they had any downtime from their uncertain work schedules, now Callen was being a complete mystery to him and had no idea what happened between getting to Mexicali to leaving Lexi’s hiding location.

 

* * *

 

Tony groaned as he rolled from one side of the bed to the other, opening his eyes slowly as he looked around the unfamiliar room – Last he remembered was watching baseball highlights on the TV while Gibbs rubbed his chest and stomach – now he was in the bedroom, alone and having no idea how he got upstairs.

 

Tony slowly rolled off the bed, sighing as the throbbing in his knee seemed to have multiplied since falling asleep downstairs, he listened attentively and heard laughter – a woman, and Gibbs talking – he slowly hobbled towards the door, using the wall as his guide since he’d somehow lost his crutches along the way.

 

Tony listened for a while trying to decipher who was in the house with Gibbs “I’m sure he’s just fine Stephanie, he’s been sleeping and taking care of himself, and I’ve been taking care of him as well… I’ll tell him you stopped by, hopefully by tomorrow morning he’ll be up to visitors.” Gibbs said, followed by a door shutting a few seconds later.

 

Tony wobbled slightly as he tried placing his braced knee down the first step, but quickly caught his balance, holding onto the corners of the wall “Jethro!” Tony called down the stairs, waiting until the older man stood at the landing of the stairs, staring up at him “Could you possibly get my crutches for me?  I can’t get down the stairs without them…” Tony said, exasperation clear in his tone as he leaned his forehead against the corner of one wall.

 

Gibbs nodded, disappearing to the direction of the kitchen, then a few seconds later he was bounding up the stairs with the crutches in one hand “You feeling okay?” Gibbs asked as he situated the crutches underneath Tony’s arms, walking backwards as Tony hobbled slowly but with practiced ease down the stairs.

 

Tony nodded “Yeah, I’m fine… How did I get upstairs?” Tony asked wearily as he half-hopped, half-swung towards the living room and dropped down onto the couch, letting the comforting leather swallow his aching body up.

 

Gibbs toed out of his shoes and joined Tony in the living room a few seconds later “I carried you upstairs, didn’t think the couch was exactly the best place to sleep…” Gibbs stopped, staring blankly at Tony as a few more words danced on the tip of his tongue; he’d never been hesitant to speak his mind before, but with Tony and their newly formed relationship, he really didn’t want to set Tony off with his brash ‘insensitivity’ that he even had to admit was sometimes overwhelming.

 

“In my condition?  Is that what you were going to say?” Tony asked quietly, holding Gibbs’ eyes with a mixture of understanding and a bit of anger, Gibbs nodded sheepishly “I get it Gibbs… I’m fragile, and yeah, _maybe_ just _maybe_ I’m a little vulnerable right now!  But I could have handled sleeping on the couch, it’s not like I haven’t slept on the couch before in similar situations!” Tony said irritably, not even bothering to mention the fact that without the older man’s body within close proximity to his own, the nightmares and the screams of the deceased victims still haunted him and often kept him awake.

 

Gibbs sighed as he tentatively reached over to Tony’s hand “Look… I didn’t mean it in a bad way… I just thought that the bed would be more comfortable.” Gibbs said, watching as Tony let out a shuddering breath “What’s going on Tony?  Something else is bothering you and don’t try and deflect, I can see it clear as day in your eyes.” Gibbs said gruffly, pulling Tony’s hand lightly to get the younger man’s attentions.

 

Tony shook his head, extracting his hand from Gibbs’ grasp “Nothing… just… just leave it alone.” Tony said as he slowly hoisted himself back up to his feet, moving slowly out of the living room.

 

Gibbs rolled his eyes as he stood up and followed after Tony, setting his hand on the younger man’s shoulder “Tony!  You _need_ to talk about this!” Gibbs ground out, staring at the back of Tony’s head.

 

Tony laughed humorlessly as he spun around, losing his balance slightly and falling into Gibbs’ chest “Talk… You’re suggesting that I talk about my feelings?  You only talk when it’s convenient for you, so why should I do it?” Tony asked angrily as he stood up straight again and continued his journey to the den.

 

Gibbs sighed as he watched Tony adjust himself on the piano bench, he leaned against the door frame and frowned as Tony started plucking at random keys “I do talk about my feelings, you know… That is all I’ve done since admitting how I feel about you.” Gibbs said quietly, rubbing his stomach idly “Why can’t you do the same Tony?  You’ve only ever deflected, or brushed it off – I _know_ you’re not fine, so why?!” Gibbs asked, his voice rising slightly as he watched Tony.

 

Tony frowned, lying his forehead against the cool wood of the piano, hiding the tears that had started falling down his cheeks “I can’t do this…” Tony whispered hoarsely.  Tony jumped slightly when he felt Gibbs set a hand against his back, “I can’t sleep through the night, I know you’ve noticed it… The nightmares are too much… I just… I want them to go away… Damn it, I just want to be able to sleep without listening to the screams!” Tony said, shouting angrily at the last of his sentence as he looked over his shoulder at Gibbs, tears streaking heavily down his cheeks.

 

Gibbs straddled the bench seat and pulled Tony to his chest, hugging the younger man comfortingly “First of all, you _can_ do this – It’s only been a month and a half Tony, you’re still healing, both physically and mentally.  It’ll take time, Tony, but you _will_ get there.” Gibbs said as he carded his fingers through Tony’s hair soothingly.

 

Tony nodded into the center of Gibbs’ chest, letting out a strangled sob as he clutched at the older man’s back, brokenly repeating that he just wanted the pain to stop – and by no means was he talking about the physical pain, and Gibbs knew that – thus Gibbs held onto Tony’s trembling body as the younger man truly broke down for the first time since being rescued from the cell he’d been in a month and a half ago.

 

* * *

 

Sam and Callen stared at the flat screen TV, watching as Lexi squirmed restlessly in the cold metal chair – they were waiting for the go-ahead to interrogate her from Hetty, since this wasn’t technically their case, everything had to be approved through Hetty from Vance himself.

 

“Just got off the phone with Director Vance – He said to transfer Ms. Campbell to a holding cell, that he would be here in the morning to personally interrogate her and that our work here is done, once she’s been transferred.” Hetty said, her voice coming over the speakers underneath the TV and her face popping up on a small square in the corner of the television.

 

Sam and Callen nodded as they began shutting down the electronic equipment in the boat shed.  Callen went to retrieve Lexi while Sam went to collect the car to take their prisoner to the holding cell that was only a block away from the boat shed, but the night was colder than usual and they wouldn’t risk getting a cold to transport an unruly suspect.

 

The next morning, as predicted, Vance showed up at the LA Boat Shed and was now sitting across from Lexi with his hands folded against his stomach, ubiquitous tooth pick sticking out from between his teeth as he twirled it around with his tongue “So, Ms. Campbell… Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Vance asked menacingly, moving his hands from his stomach to the cool steel of the table.

 

Lexi shrugged, scratching at her cuffed wrists “It wasn’t my fault!  Terry made me do all of it! I never wanted to do it, but he-he-he he’s just so… I can’t tell you how sorry I am for hurting all those people!” Lexi cried, burying her face in her palms, letting the alligator tears fall from her eyes and down onto the steel table.

 

Vance shook his head as he pulled the toothpick out of his mouth, setting it inside of his jacket pocket “You had a choice, you could have said no… Why didn’t you?  What did you get out of all of this?” Vance asked, tapping his fingernail against the table, knowing that Lexi had a low-tolerance for annoying noises.

 

Lexi stared at Vance’s tapping finger, her upper lip twitching slightly “I loved him!  I shouldn’t have let my feelings cloud my judgement, but I did it!  So why keep me here!?” Lexi shouted angrily, swiping her cuffed wrists – which were mounted to the table – towards Vance’s hand.

 

Vance continued clicking his nail against the table, smirking slyly as he watched Lexi get riled up over the fact that she had absolutely no control over her own body “How does it feel?  Being locked up?  Stuck to solid ground with no way of moving your arms very far?” Vance sneered, slotting a fresh toothpick in between his teeth as he continued watching Lexi struggle against her restraints.

 

Lexi growled angrily as she shook the cuffs around her wrists, glaring at Vance “You’re an asshole!  Should burn in hell like all those other faggots that Terry and I killed!  You’re no better than they are, thinking you’re all high and mighty with your cheap suit!” Lexi shouted angrily, jostling the heavy metal table only slightly, sending it towards Vance’s body but not enough to do any damage.

 

Vance stood up slowly, shaking his head “Sounds like you have a lot more anger towards homosexuals than you let even Terry believe, did you know he was gay?  That he was just like every single person he’s killed?  And every single person he’s hurt?” Vance asked, hovering mere inches from Lexi’s face.

 

Lexi looked hurt for all of a second before her facial expression morphed back into the angry expression she’d been sporting since arriving in Los Angeles “That’s not true!  It can’t be true!  He told me that once we got rid of all the fags on base that we could be together!” Lexi spat angrily, standing up as far as she could to get into Vance’s face.

 

Vance headed for the door “It is the truth, I have no reason to lie to you…” Vance said over his shoulder as he walked out of the interrogation room “You can process her and lock her up now.” Vance said as he walked out of the boat shed and returned to his waiting vehicle “Clyde, to Camp Pendleton please.” Vance instructed his driver.

 

* * *

 

Vance stood in the foyer of the two story home that had been assigned to Gibbs and Tony, looking around at the home with a raised eyebrow “Well this is quite… homey looking.” Vance commented as Gibbs led him into the living room.

 

Gibbs nodded as he wrapped his hand around Tony’s wrist and pulled the younger man up into a seated position “We tried to make it look lived in while we were here.” Tony said as he slowly adjusted his leg to prop it up on the coffee table, “Have a seat, director.” Tony added, nodding towards the free space on the couch.

 

Vance sat down, unbuttoning his jacket and smiling “So, how are things going?” Vance asked, looking from Tony’s braced knee to the younger man himself.

 

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair “Fine so far.  Doctor hasn’t declared me safe for flight yet, but we’re hopeful that he’ll clear me before this weekend since the mobility in my knee has improved dramatically from a month ago.” Tony said clinically; he’d heard the doctor drone on about the ramifications of travelling to soon with all the turbulence and had his own reservations about travelling, especially after the uncomfortable flight there with his knee bothering him, going home would be way worse.

 

Vance nodded solemnly “We’ve upgraded your flights to first class tickets… Hopefully that will be more comfortable on your leg with the added room.” Vance said rather sympathetically towards Tony’s situation.

 

Tony smiled gratefully, nodding his head slowly “That’s very thoughtful, thank you Director.” Tony said quietly, ducking his head shyly and rubbing his thigh as it tremored painfully against the couch cushion.

 

Gibbs got up from the couch, disappearing into the kitchen “Is there anything else I can do for you two while I’m still here?  My flight back to DC leaves this evening.” Vance asked, looking between Gibbs who’d returned with a pill bottle and a glass of water, and Tony who was still kneading into his thigh vigorously.

 

Tony sighed, he still hated taking pills but knew it was necessary so he popped two of the hydrocodone’s into his mouth, swallowing them down with a gulp of water “Nothing really… Although I’m sure once I’m back in DC I’ll have things we’ll have to discuss.” Tony said vaguely.  Of course he was referring to his lack of mobility and the probability of not being able to work at NCIS, at least not in the field, anymore.

 

Vance nodded as he stood up, clasping Tony’s shoulder reassuringly “I understand, and when that time comes – I’ll do what I can.” Vance said, winking before he turned, leaving the two men to mull over the double-ended wordings that Vance had left them with.


	10. Chapter 10

Tony sighed, shifting uncomfortably for the hundredth time since boarding their flight back to DC – He’d finally been cleared for travel again, and with a lot of regret of having to explain to his doctors, the friends he’d made in San Diego and even the base commanders about their deception towards who they were, they were finally on their way back to DC with recommendations from the doctors on great physical therapists and even, after much arguing, an actual therapist that could help Tony through the mental healing portions of what needed healing.

 

Gibbs rolled his eyes as Tony’s elbow jabbed into his arm yet again “We should have just drove back to DC… Even if it would have taken us three days to get back.” Gibbs grumbled irritably, they had discussed driving back for Tony’s sake, but Tony rebuffed the option almost immediately, because all he wanted to do was get back to DC as quickly as possible, leaving behind all that he’d endured in San Diego.

 

Tony rolled his eyes, leaning the airplane seat back as far as it would go “What’s the point in driving back if we can’t stop and see all of the neat little landmarks along the way?” Tony retorted, turning his head to look at the side of Gibbs’ face.

 

Gibbs shook his head as he thought about how he wanted to respond to Tony’s question, what he really wanted to say was ‘ _Some people have to get back to work…_ ’ but he knew that would be completely insensitive and he didn’t want to deal with a pissed-off Tony throughout the remainder of their flight. Gibbs was having more than a difficult time trying to think of something that would both soothe and defuse the situation before it escalated “I’ve done the cross-country road trip before Tony… The landmarks aren’t all that great.” Gibbs said, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he reclined backwards and looked over at Tony.

 

Tony scoffed slightly and turned his head towards the window “Ass, I haven’t done the cross-country road trip thing – They would have been great for me!” Tony replied, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing out a breath in aggravation.

 

Gibbs sighed, the one thing he didn’t want to do was piss Tony off, and by the hurt expression on Tony’s face, and he’d successfully succeeded in pissing him off “Tony… I’d love to do a cross-country road trip with you, but… I’d rather do it when you’re better, can actually enjoy the scenery… Not having to hobble around on crutches or being in constant pain.” Gibbs said sincerely, tentatively reaching towards Tony’s hand that was rubbing vigorously against his thigh.

 

Tony interlocked his fingers with Gibbs’ and sighed as he turned his head back to look at Gibbs “I’m holding you too that, because whatever you say is law.” Tony said, smirking a little as he leaned over, capturing Gibbs’ lips in a heated kiss that quickly escalated, thankfully the first class cabin was barren except for the stewardess’ who would occasionally walk past.

 

Gibbs found himself with half of Tony in his lap, groaning low in his throat as Tony pawed relentlessly at his groin that was so stiff he thought he’d lose control, “T… Tony…” Gibbs said breathlessly as Tony’s lips went from his mouth to his earlobe “Public… Place…” Gibbs managed to get out through panted breathes.

 

Tony sighed as he curled up against Gibbs’ side, his injured knee resting on top of Gibbs’ thigh, “I’m sorry… I uh… I lost myself there for a few seconds.” Tony offered lamely as he caressed up and down Gibbs’ stomach and chest slowly.

 

Gibbs grunted as he kissed the top of Tony’s head, smirking as Tony squirmed against his side, feeling the younger man’s erection pressing into the outside of his thigh “Ya think?” Gibbs questioned as he ran his hand from Tony’s shoulder and down to his well-rounded ass, slipping the tips of his fingers underneath the elastic waistband of Tony’s shorts “Glad we can do this now…” Gibbs whispered as he idly kneaded into Tony’s bare behind.

 

Tony continued squirming restlessly against Gibbs’ thigh, his erection never waning “I’m gonna end up making a mess of my shorts if you keep this up.” Tony whispered sternly, biting repeatedly against Gibbs’ side playfully.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he slapped Tony playfully on the ass, then withdrew his hand, although still resting his hand on Tony’s behind as they got into the best comfortable position on their seats in the airplane.  Gibbs kept protective arms around Tony as he fell asleep, and Gibbs was content just staring at the in-flight movie, he didn’t know what was playing, but that wasn’t of any concern, because even though Tony was sleeping, he knew he’d learn everything about every movie that would play on the screen once they were back in DC.

 

* * *

 

Tony stared blankly at the steel doors of the elevator, he was happy to be back in DC, but all he _really_ wanted right now was to be at his home, or Gibbs’ home, hell he’d even take a rat-motel bed right now, because he just wanted to lay down and wake up sometime in the middle of next week.

 

Gibbs looked over at Tony and smiled sadly, he could see the obvious signs of fatigue on Tony’s face, and the slight trembling of Tony’s leg as they stood in the elevator “We won’t stay for very long, I promise… then I’ll take you back to your apartment, and you can get into your tub and relax…” Gibbs promised, reaching over and gently caressing Tony’s back before the elevator doors opened up.

 

Tony led the way out of the elevator, swinging slightly on his crutches as the two men headed for the over-populated section of the MCRT.  Ziva, McGee, Jimmy, Abby and Ducky were all sitting in the bullpen, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their two favorite men.  Abby was the first to her feet, squealing in joy as Gibbs and Tony stood in between the opened partitions, she quickly slung her arms around Gibbs’ neck, hugging onto him for a brief moment, before moving over to Tony and hugging him with less ferocity than she had Gibbs “I’m so glad you guys are home, and safe, and whole!” Abby exclaimed as she looked between the two men, smiling widely.

 

Tony snorted disdainfully as he made his way over to his desk, carefully dropping down into his chair and dropping his crutches with a clatter of metal on metal, everyone in the bullpen jumped slightly except for Gibbs – now used to Tony dropping the crutches whenever he was in pain or angry – “Whole isn’t exactly the word I would use.” Tony said tensely as he began pulling open the drawers of his desk, pulling everything that belonged to him personally out and tossing them into a box carelessly.

 

Everyone looked between Tony and Gibbs, their eyebrows almost raising in unison “We’ll talk about this later… Get back to work.” Gibbs said definitively, watching as the team split up and either returned to their desks and minded their own business, or returned to their ends of the NCIS building.

 

Gibbs didn’t bother informing Tony where he’d be, knowing that Tony knew he would be heading up to Vance’s office to start the debriefing process.  Tony continued angrily shoving his things into file boxes, the last thing he wanted to do was be here packing away his life at NCIS, but the odds of him coming back to the building without a visitors tag stuck to his shirt were seemingly implausible at this point and he wanted nothing more than to just take all of his stuff and begin smashing it into tiny pieces because of the rage he felt towards everything that had happened to him.

 

Ziva looked hesitantly up at Tony, then up at the catwalk, noticing Gibbs had disappeared completely, she stood up and crossed the bullpen, “Tony, is there anything we can do to help?” Ziva asked tentatively, not wanting to further anger Tony as they’d never seen their senior field agent look so pissed off before – and although Ziva had years of Mossad training, Tony pissed off did in fact scare her at least by a little bit, they’d seen Tony angry only a handful of times, and neither time ended up being a pretty sight for the other involved party.

 

Tony managed a calming breath before he looked up at Ziva “No, not right now…” Tony said quietly as he looked back down at the now mostly empty drawers, shoving each one of them closed and not caring that papers were sticking out oddly from between the cracks.

 

Ziva nodded as she headed back to her desk, glancing up at the catwalk as she felt a pair of eyes bearing down on her “Tony, I believe that Gibbs and Vance are looking for you.” Ziva said, inclining her head in the direction of the catwalk where Gibbs and Vance were standing beside one another, Gibbs making a vague gesture in Tony’s direction when looking at Ziva.

 

Tony nodded as he reached down and picked up his crutches, slowly pulling himself up to his feet, he glared at the steps that led up to the catwalk briefly, shaking his head as he hobbled to the back elevator that would lead him up to the catwalk faster than it would take him to use the stairs.  Tony slowly moved across the catwalk until he was in front of Vance and Gibbs “We’ll start the debriefing now – and then we have further things to discuss.” Vance said, looking pointedly between Tony and Gibbs before turning back to his office.

 

Gibbs glanced at Tony meaningfully, sparing a brief smile that was more reassuring than Tony could have actually expressed with words “Do you think he knows?” Tony whispered as he and Gibbs trailed behind Vance at a considerably slower pace.

 

Gibbs shrugged, his fingers twitching slightly as he thought about just reaching out and holding Tony’s hand for even further reassurances “He hasn’t made any sort of gesture – other than just now – that he knows anything… We’ll just play it by ear for now.” Gibbs said, passing one last smile in Tony’s direction before heading into Vance’s office, thankful that Cynthia was out to lunch and hadn’t overheard their conversation.

 

* * *

 

After several hours of painfully discussing everything that had happened since the time they arrived on base to the minute Tony was rescued from the cellar at the quarry, Gibbs and Tony were left alone to breathe for a few minutes while Vance went down to collect their meals that they had ordered.

 

Gibbs was staring at Tony, who had a closed off expression on his face, his concern rising once again for the younger man “I don’t want to talk about it right now… Please.” Tony said dejectedly, his tone lacking any emotion, even anger which Gibbs had at least expected, but was painfully reminded that Tony hadn’t shown any emotion when recounting the events of his being captured and subsequently being tortured.

 

Gibbs nodded, on the verge of saying something when the door opened and Vance walked in with a paper sack “Alright, let’s eat and then we’ll talk about everything else.” Vance declared as he set the bag down and served up their meals quickly.

 

After eating the subpar Chinese food – Tony hadn’t been accustomed to eating out in over two months now, having spent more time cooking or being cooked for, with the exception of hospital food and the occasional sneaked in meal at the hospital – Tony stared blankly as he twisted his napkin around in his fingertips.

 

“I received all of your medical records from San Diego, and – I apologize in advance, but I’m not quite as literate with medical jargon, so I had Doctor Mallard assist me – we went over everything that both Doctor Lee and Doctor Stein said about your injuries…” Vance began, glancing at Tony’s knee briefly “It’s our impression that you won’t be able to return to active duty, yet, if ever… correct?” Vance questioned curiously, because even though he’d gone over the records, he wanted to know first-hand that the assumptions were true.

 

Tony nodded slightly as he pressed his palm against his thigh “Their assessment is accurate, but… I’m still going to _try_ and get back to where I was before the injury… If I could just… have the time to do it.” Tony said, almost pleadingly as he looked up at Vance – this was the hardest part, not knowing if he would ever be able to return to work, not because of his relationship with Gibbs, but because of the low percentage of his knee ever being one hundred percent again.

 

Vance nodded understandingly “I get it, and I’ll give you that time Tony… I’ll of course expect monthly progress reports from you, specifically, not your doctors – Much like lawyers, I don’t like dealing with their fancy words.” Vance said, huffing out a small laugh, he then looked over at Gibbs nodding subtly.

 

Gibbs nodded as he stood up, setting his hand onto Tony’s shoulder and squeezing slightly “I’ve got some things to deal with.” Gibbs said as he turned and left, leaving Tony alone with Vance, wide-eyed and mouth gaping slightly.

 

Tony turned back to Vance, nervously twisting his fingers together “I wanted to talk to you alone…” Vance said in a soft tone, looking directly at Tony “This isn’t easy on you and I can tell that you’re uncomfortable Tony, but I need you to know that I’m on your side through this – You’re a good agent, and losing you would be like losing a part of the family…” he said sympathetically, twisting a toothpick around in his fingertips “Have you ever thought about going back to school? Furthering your career?” Vance asked, looking at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

 

Tony shook his head slowly “No sir.  Never really crossed my mind to further my education.” Tony said honestly, shrugging his shoulders and looking down at his lap, his fingers still idly twisting together.

 

Vance smiled slightly as he put the toothpick into his mouth “Think about it, it could prove beneficial to your future when the time is right.  In the meantime however, I’d like for you to stay on at NCIS – We’ll coordinate your work schedule with your physical therapy schedules – I want you to consult on cases for other teams, not just locally, but globally… You have a gift for solving cases without a whole lot to go on Tony and I don’t think you should let that gift go unused.” Vance said as he stood up, buttoning his jacket then holding his hand out towards Tony.

 

Tony stood up slowly, holding his crutches in one hand and shaking Vance’s hand with his other firmly, “I appreciate the offer sir.  I’ll make sure to get a schedule from the therapist and let you know everything there is to know.” Tony said as he adjusted the crutches underneath his armpits and leaving the office slowly.

 

* * *

 

An hour later, Gibbs was unlocking Tony’s condo door, holding several grocery bags in his arms, waiting for Tony to precede him into the condo “It’s so great to be home.” Tony said wearily as he made his way across the room and unceremoniously dropped into his leather sectional, stretching out with a languorous moan.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he walked into the kitchen, setting down the groceries, putting away the things that needed to be refrigerated “You want anything while I’m in here?” Gibbs asked, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.

 

Tony shook his head slowly “No… no.  I’m good… I really should probably just go to sleep – Long day today, long day tomorrow…” Tony said tiredly, yawning loudly into his fist as he pushed himself back up to his feet, situating his crutches underneath his arms “Night Jethro.” Tony said as he slowly hobbled into the bedroom.

 

“Night… Tony.” Gibbs said quietly, his features falling as the younger man disappeared into the bedroom.  This wasn’t at all what Gibbs was expecting, he knew Tony wanted to be at his apartment but he’d have thought that the younger man would have extended an invitation to stay, but… There wasn’t one, even though he knew Tony was having trouble sleeping through the night without his being there.  Gibbs sighed as he collected his stuff and headed for the door, silently leaving the condo, basked only in the one light on the end table in the living room in case Tony needed to get up.

 

Tony sat down on the edge of his bed in the darkness, staring blankly across the inky black room – His heart near shattering when he heard the front door shutting, knowing that Gibbs had left him alone.  Tony had expected Gibbs to stay, much like they had been for the past month or better, so his thoughts began cycling through everything that had happened since waking up in California that morning to the minute he said goodnight a few seconds ago, coming up with nothing that would have sent Gibbs running for the hills – He knew that the house was safe, McGee had been vigilant in checking each of their residences each night before going home, so that wasn’t it.

 

Tony sighed as he laid down, staring up at the ceiling.  Tony shook his head slowly, this was ridiculous, he was a grown man – he should be able to sleep alone, he’d been doing so for the past thirty something years, what was so different now?  He’d even had nightmares and still slept alone, not needing comfort or the strength of someone else’s arms to protect him.  Tony swiped angrily at his tear filled eyes as he turned over on the bed slowly, hugging his pillow to his chest and staring across the darkness of his room.

 

Twenty minutes had gone by and Tony was still staring wide-eyed across his bedroom, skeptically watching the shadows dance across the wall, every noise he heard made his body tense up painfully and he knew he would never be able to sleep like this.  Slowly rolling out of bed, he collected his cellphone and dialed up the taxi company, grabbed a backpack and shoved a few basic necessities into it and then made his way downstairs from his building to wait for his ride.

 

After the short ten minute ride from his condo to Gibbs’ house, Tony felt every nerve in his body jumping with fear, he hated being dependent on anyone, but despite his exhaustion, he knew that he would never be able to sleep without being wrapped up in the protectiveness of Gibbs’ arms.  Tony made his way up Gibbs’ walkway and porch steps carefully, the only light provided to guide him coming from the lamppost a couple of houses down.  Tony knocked on the door slightly, then pushed the door open, “Gibbs?” Tony called out as he pushed the door shut quietly, looking around the dark home.

 

Gibbs grumbled tiredly, tilting his head back on the arm of the couch “Tony?  What… What are you doing here?” Gibbs asked, his voice rough and deep from sleep.

 

Tony sighed, shaking his head as he moved slowly into the living room “I… I couldn’t… sleep.” Tony admitted quietly, watching as Gibbs reached back and turned on the light, then sat up on the couch.  Tony moved to the couch, sitting down beside Gibbs and setting his crutches down on the coffee table.

 

Gibbs wrapped his arm around Tony’s shoulders and pulled the younger man to him “What happened?” Gibbs asked softly, rubbing soothingly across Tony’s arm as he leaned back against the couch with him.

 

Tony frowned as he curled up against Gibbs’ side, wrapping his arms around the older man’s waist “Couldn’t sleep… I uh… I’d thought you were going to stay the night… after you found a place to put all the groceries…” Tony said quietly.

 

Gibbs sighed a bit, feeling the dampness from Tony’s tears slide down his bare chest “Didn’t know you wanted me to stay.  Should have said something Tony.” Gibbs whispered soothingly against the top of Tony’s head as he held him just a bit tighter to ease the tremors away.

 

Tony nodded against Gibbs’ chest “Just wanna sleep…” Tony whispered hoarsely.  Gibbs nodded as he slowly stood up, and unexpectedly swooped Tony up into his arms, one arm behind his back and the other supported firmly underneath Tony’s thighs, Tony squeaked and wrapped his arms around Gibbs’ neck “That was unexpected.” Tony whispered, lying his head against Gibbs’ shoulder.

 

Gibbs kissed Tony’s forehead as he headed upstairs without even breaking a sweat “I am unexpected.” Gibbs retorted as he kicked open his bedroom door and then carefully laid Tony down and then climbed into the bed beside Tony, wrapping his arms firmly around Tony’s torso and stomach “Now… Go to sleep.” Gibbs said quietly as he began the soothing strokes against Tony’s body, listening as Tony’s breathing evened out and was asleep within just a few minutes, Gibbs following behind the younger man in falling asleep, a contented smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

Tony woke up slowly, opening his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling, a slight panic setting in and his entire body tensing up until he felt a familiar and comforting hand on his shoulder, Tony looked over to see Gibbs still lying in bed just as they were last night “Morning.” Tony said groggily as he slowly turned over and snuggled into Gibbs’ chest, inhaling the comforting scent that seemed to always linger on Gibbs’ body.

 

Gibbs grinned as he hugged Tony softly “Morning.  We have to go to the office in an hour… You did bring clothes in that backpack of yours, right?” Gibbs asked softly, rubbing a strong hand down Tony’s back slowly.

 

Tony nodded as he slid his hand across Gibbs’ bare hip “Mhm, why do we have to go?” Tony mumbled as he rolled his hips slightly, his morning erection rigid and pressing firmly into the curve of Gibbs’ pelvic bone.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he nestled his own erection against Tony’s “Cause Vance called and said he had to talk to us…” Gibbs said huskily, rolling his hips in counterpoint to Tony’s hips moving.

 

Tony clutched onto Gibbs’ bicep, his head tipping back slightly “Why… Why does… everyone… get in the… _oh god_ … way?” Tony asked, his breath hitching as Gibbs continued pressing their clothed cocks together with just the right amount of pressure.

 

Gibbs shrugged as he finally stopped moving, resting his forehead against Tony’s shoulder, breathing heavier than before “Don’t know… Hopefully we can get this over with soon and then make good on all of the promises we made.” Gibbs said quietly as he reached up and stroked Tony’s cheek softly with his thumb.

 

Tony nodded as he turned his head, kissing the inside of Gibbs’ palm lightly “Can’t wait for that.” Tony said as he slowly rolled off the bed, slightly shocked that his crutches were right there leaning against the nightstand – Now wondering when Gibbs actually woke up, and surprised that the older man had gotten back into bed with him, knowing that once Gibbs was up, he was up until he was ready to sleep again.

 

* * *

 

Gibbs and Tony were escorted into Vance’s office an hour and five minutes later – Gibbs hated being late to anything, but Vance stood up “I apologize for the delay.  Just got off the phone with Hetty in LA – Alexis and Terry have both just been prosecuted and are now both serving life sentences.  Colonel Anderson is on his way to Leavenworth and Alexis is in Valley State.” Vance informed them as he walked over to the conference table, inviting both men to sit down.

 

Gibbs watched Tony carefully as he sat, then moved the crutches out of their way and sat down beside him “So, what did you need to see us for Leon?  I _really_ hope that wasn’t all you needed to tell us because you could have done that over the phone…” Gibbs said, his voice edging on irritable as he glared at Vance.

 

Vance shook his head slowly “No… No.  That’s not why I called to see you both.” Vance assured as he clasped his hands together and set them on the table, leaning forward slightly “Have either of you wondered, why, specifically I requested you two for this assignment?” Vance asked, looking between both men curiously.

 

Tony and Gibbs glanced at each other, then back at Vance “We’ve thought about it a time or two, but we were more focused on the job at hand than mulling over your reasons why we were better suited for this position than anyone else.” Tony said in a cordial tone, linking his own hands together and setting them on the table, Gibbs just simply nodded, letting Tony take control of the situation.

 

Vance sighed “I requested the both of you to see how you two would be able to work together, while dealing with the feelings you had between one another.” Vance admitted, and for the briefest of moments he actually carried a look of both embarrassment and guilt as he looked between Tony and Gibbs.

 

Gibbs snorted disdainfully “You set us up?!” Gibbs demanded, slamming his fist into the table as he stood up – the heavy oak chair falling backwards with a loud clatter.

 

Tony quickly turned to Gibbs and set his hand over Gibbs’ fist “Stop… This won’t solve anything.” Tony said quietly, now becoming the soother rather than receiving the comfort from Gibbs.  Tony waited until Gibbs had sat back down, then turned back to Vance “Why would you set us up on a mission, that you _knew_ could have ended my life?  If you _knew_ that Gibbs and I both felt something towards each other?  Why not just confront us?  Why do something so… backhanded like this?” Tony questioned, keeping his voice calm and even, although he definitely didn’t feel calm with what Vance had done to them, reminding him too much of the way Director Shepard had abused her position to get what she wanted.

 

Vance shook his head “I have no excuse for what I did, and I do apologize for using the two of you in the way that I did… I had thought, several times, to confront the both of you about it – but I noticed things… You two didn’t even _know_ you were into each other, did you?” Vance asked, his voice rather low as he kept his head down, knowing he did make a grave mistake in putting not only Tony in danger, but Gibbs as well, had things gone even more wrong than what they had.

 

Tony and Gibbs both shook their heads “We didn’t know, and we probably would have continued not knowing, had you not forced us into this situation – We were happy being oblivious to each other’s feelings.” Tony stated, now wishing he hadn’t said it quite like that, so he quickly amended “Not that we _aren’t_ happy now, hell, happier than before even – But our feelings for each other, raises a lot of questions, and puts both of our jobs, and our _lives_ at jeopardy!” Tony said angrily, curling his hand into a tight fist a few times.

 

Vance held his hand out “There won’t be any questions, nor will it put your jobs or lives at risk – I’ve read the handbook… Sure, Gibbs is your boss, but relationships between two co-workers is not prohibited.  As you, and your doctor’s have pointed out Tony, you’re not fit for active duty… When – not _if_ – that time comes when you are ready to return to active duty… You and Gibbs will still not face inquiry.  I support this relationship, one hundred percent, and I will field any and all questions that may arise in the future.” Vance stated, looking between the two men with sincere honesty written in his features.

 

Tony turned to Gibbs, sighing slightly as he held out his hand tentatively “Wha’dya think big guy?  Think we can take this on at a whole new level?” Tony asked with a barely contained smirk.

 

Gibbs grinned as he set his hand into Tony’s hand “I know we can.  We can do anything together, babe.” Gibbs said affectionately as he locked his fingers with Tony’s and brought Tony’s hand up to his lips, tenderly kissing the back of his hand.

 

Vance cleared his throat awkwardly “Well, now that that’s been settled – You two should take a few days off, get adjusted to being back in DC.” Vance said as he stood up, heading back towards his desk, effectively dismissing the two men from his office.

 

Tony and Gibbs both nodded, Gibbs got up and collected Tony’s crutches, helping the younger man up.  The two men left Vance’s office and headed down to the bullpen, they both glanced at their teammates, then proceeded to the elevator, and if anybody noticed that Gibbs set his hand against the small of Tony’s back as they got onto the elevator, they’d know better than to say anything to either man when they returned to work.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M-Rating has finally been doled out, so be warned ;) Things get steamy!

Gibbs carried Tony from the foyer all the way upstairs, like he’d done last night, both men grinning widely as their lips touched in light caresses “How long do you think a few days are?” Tony asked between kisses, his fingers ceaselessly moving through Gibbs’ short grey hairs on the sides of his head.

 

Gibbs shrugged after setting Tony down on the edge of the bed “Not sure.  Don’t really care right now.” Gibbs said gruffly as he grabbed the ends of his shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it aside.

 

Tony bit back his bottom lip as he reached a shaky hand out towards Gibbs’ stomach, setting his entire hand against the flat, muscular surface and smiling slightly – sure he’d seen Gibbs without a shirt on, even touched the older man’s stomach numerous times, but somehow, this entire experience was completely different.  Tony slowly moved his fingers up Gibbs’ body, his index finger grazing over the dusky peak of Gibbs’ nipple, watching as the skin puckered underneath his touch and hardened.

 

Gibbs shuddered slightly from Tony’s touch, feeling as though electricity was coursing through his entire body and exploding with a brightness that he’d really only ever felt once before in his life – it was a pivotal moment, and Gibbs knew this, having been in the ‘courting’ phase with Tony for three months was truly going to pay off.  Gibbs slowly slid his fingers up Tony’s arm and then down to the hem of Tony’s shirt, slowly pulling it up and over the younger man’s head “You’ll tell me if it hurts?” Gibbs questioned, looking directly into Tony’s eyes, which were blown, a barely noticeable sliver of green reflecting back at him, and if he could look into a mirror, he knew he’d see the same thing in his own eyes.

 

Tony nodded as he slowly stood up, setting both of his hands onto Gibbs’ shoulders “I promise.” Tony whispered as he leaned in, kissing Gibbs with every bit of passion and love he’d ever felt for the man out from his lips and tongue, onto Gibbs’ lips and tongue.  Gibbs grunted appreciatively as he moved his own hands to the waistband of Tony’s shorts – one thing he was thankful for, with the injury, was that Tony not only went commando, but preferred wearing basketball shorts over his normal skin-tight jeans.

 

Gibbs let Tony’s shorts fall to the floor, even though they did get stuck on the brace for a few seconds, but together they managed to untangle the article, and now Tony stood stark naked in front of Gibbs, his erection jutting out proudly from the tangle of thick brown hairs.  Gibbs smirked as he wrapped his hand around the shaft of Tony’s cock, slowly stroking the length and watching as Tony’s head tipped back, mouth parting just slightly and letting out a pleased sigh.

 

With Gibbs’ hand on his cock, Tony felt like nothing could be more blissful than this, until Gibbs latched onto Tony’s nipple and started sucking slowly.  Tony’s knees both shook slightly and he had to grab Gibbs’ shoulders a bit tighter to keep from falling over “Might… be better… if we laid down…” Tony whispered brokenly through low mewling moans.

 

Gibbs nodded as he hoisted Tony up onto the bed, carefully as ever while lying him down.  Gibbs shed his jeans and kicked them backwards and Tony’s eyes widened at not only the older man’s stunningly large erection, but the fact that Gibbs was commando and had been since they left the house earlier that morning “Wow…” Tony whispered, gulping slightly as Gibbs laid down beside him.  Tony wrapped shaky fingers around Gibbs’ cock, his eyes never leaving Gibbs’ face, watching as Gibbs bit back his bottom lip and – what sounded like – moaned deeply in his throat, which was the sexiest sound that Tony thought he’d ever heard.

 

Tony tentatively stroked Gibbs’ length, which with the experience he did have, he thought he shouldn’t have been so nervous, but the fact that he was about to have sex with a man that he’d loved for more than ten years, and was in a committed relationship with for three months, definitely set everything in his body into overdrive as the two men laid side-by-side and stroked one another until precum was constantly oozing out from their swollen cock heads.

 

Gibbs nestled his head in the juncture of Tony’s shoulder and neck, sucking and nibbling at the pliable flesh beneath his lips, smirking as Tony began to restlessly squirm against the mattress and roll onto his back “ _Oh god!_ ” Tony gasped, his back arching off the mattress slightly as he wrapped his fingers around Gibbs’ wrist that was still stroking his cock “Gonna… come too soon… If you keep that… up…” Tony managed to get out through panted breathes.

 

Gibbs chuckled as he released his hold on Tony’s cock and slowly kissed his way up Tony’s jaw until their lips were touching “What if I wanted you to come?” Gibbs asked huskily as he nipped and sucked at Tony’s lips, moving his fingers teasingly across the underside of Tony’s cock until the younger man was squirming and whimpering ceaselessly.

 

Tony practically cried when Gibbs’ fingers stopped moving, “ _Fuck!_   I really should have known you’d be a tease in the bedroom.” Tony said, gasping for breath as he looked up at Gibbs through half-lidded and hazy eyes, his entire body felt like it were on fire and he could definitely feel every muscle humming and trembling with sheer desire.

 

Gibbs grinned as he turned over in the bed, opening the nightstand drawer and withdrawing a bottle of lubrication and a packet of condoms, he then turned back to Tony “I don’t plan to tease you much longer.” Gibbs said as he set both of his acquired objects down between him and Tony, then leaned over the younger man, practically inhaling the younger man’s nipple between his teeth, sucking and nipping on it until he had Tony whimpering and begging in a slur of Italian and English, both of which were incomprehensible words.

 

Gibbs grabbed the condoms and thrusted them into Tony’s hand, continuing to tease Tony’s nipple.  Tony fumbled with the foil packet for a few seconds, finally managing to rip the packet open and pull out the slick condom and with shaky but experienced fingers, managed to roll the condom onto Gibbs’ cock.  Tony then grabbed ahold of the lube, nudging Gibbs’ off his nipple and smirking as he spread his uninjured leg outward “I want you.  Now.” Tony said in what could only be described as both seductive and demanding.

 

Gibbs took ahold of the lubricant and applied a generous amount onto his fingers, then with practiced ease, he hovered over Tony, capturing the younger man’s lips in a soul-searing kiss as he pressed the tip of his finger at Tony’s entrance.  Tony gasped into the kiss, thankful for the distraction as Gibbs began sliding skilled fingers into his body.  It didn’t take long for Tony to relax and open up completely to Gibbs, if Tony’s constant moans were any indication.  Gibbs grinned as he took ahold of the lube once more, and with one hand still preoccupied with fingering Tony, he managed to open the lube and spread a healthy amount of the lubrication onto his rigid cock.

 

Next thing Tony knew, Gibbs was positioned between his thighs and pushing the head of his swollen cock into Tony’s entrance.  Tony gasped and aimlessly grappled at Gibbs’ arms and the sheets that were bunched around him, looking for any sort of purchase as Gibbs slowly inched his cock in past the head “You okay?” Gibbs asked in concern, looking at the contorted expression on Tony’s face, he couldn’t quite tell if it were pain from their connection, Tony’s knee or a combination of both.

 

Tony nodded, opening his eyes slowly and looking up at Gibbs, reaching up with his hand and gently caressing Gibbs’ cheek “Perfect… Just been a while.” Tony said as he brought Gibbs’ face down to his, pressing their lips together and kissing Gibbs sensually, moaning as he felt Gibbs’ cock sink deeper into his slowly stretching channel, gasping as Gibbs’ girth stretched him open even further.

 

Gibbs smiled, nodding slightly as he laid his forehead against Tony’s shoulder “Good… Tell me when you’re ready.” Gibbs whispered, kissing across Tony’s collar bone slowly, then up the center of his throat until Tony and Gibbs’ lips were pressed together once again, kissing Tony slowly and lovingly.

 

Tony sighed contentedly, nuzzling his nose against the side of Gibbs’ nose “I’m ready… Just be gentle.” Tony whispered as he wrapped his good leg around the small of Gibbs’ back, moaning out as Gibbs’ cock sunk further into him.

 

Gibbs lifted his head up, pressing his palms into the mattress just above Tony’s shoulders “Love you, Tony.” Gibbs whispered as he started up a slow and steady pace, thrusting inch-by-inch into Tony and reveling in the small moans that seemed to fill his ears up, it was almost like a melody to Gibbs, listening to the younger man moaning as he thrusted.

 

Tony finally found that small bit of purchase with his fingers wrapped tightly around the bottom of the headboard, he also found that words seemed to completely elude him right now, all he managed to get out were satisfied moans and whimpers as Gibbs drove relentlessly, but still slowly and lovingly, into his body.  Tony could feel every nerve-ending in his body humming with the pure intensity of pleasure and the love that Gibbs was giving him.  He’d always imagined that Gibbs would be an attentive lover, and even if words failed him, Gibbs seemed to know _exactly_ what Tony needed and gave it to him without a second thought.

 

Gibbs grunted as he pressed his forehead against Tony’s shoulder, low and deep moans rumbling in his chest, wrapping one arm underneath Tony’s uninjured leg and pulling it up over his shoulder, completely changing the angle of his thrusts which caused Tony to nearly scream out when the head of Gibbs’ cock started pressing into his prostate with each thrust “Oh god… oh fuck! Fuck, fuck!” Tony cried out, his fingers turning a sickly white color from the grip he had on the headboard, his entire body arching and tossing back towards Gibbs’ cock to gain more of that lovely feeling that was exploding inside of him from all angles now.

 

Gibbs smirked as he lifted his head, capturing Tony’s mouth and all the curses that came out of it, and with the changed angle he also managed to go deeper and faster without putting much strain on himself or Tony’s other knee.  Tony had moved his fingers from the headboard to Gibbs’ back, and he could feel the perfectly rounded tips of Tony’s fingernails digging and scratching down his back, which only added fuel to the fire – he loved the miniscule pain that Tony’s fingernails delivered.

 

Tony felt tears welling up in his eyes, and it wasn’t even from the slight pain coming from his knee, it was from the intensity of love he felt in this very moment as Gibbs clung to him, their bodies covered in sweat and sliding easily against one another.  “Gonna… _Oh god!_ I’m gonna come…” Tony cried, his entire body trembling as he arched upward against Gibbs’ stomach as he felt a familiar heat pool in the center of his stomach, then a few seconds later, with Gibbs’ hand wrapped around his cock and stroking in time with his thrusts, Tony screamed out in pure ecstasy as his cock exploded between the two men’s sweat-slicked bodies.

 

Gibbs moaned deeply as he pushed his entire length into Tony’s body, his own cock exploding from the immense pressure that was wrapped around his cock from Tony’s tightened muscles “Fuckkk” Gibbs breathed out lowly, pressing his forehead against Tony’s shoulder as his entire body shuddered from the sheer power of his ejaculation.  Tony wrapped his arms around Gibbs’ shoulders, holding on for dear life as both men breathed against one another, their bodies shaking and trembling.

 

* * *

 

Tony laid against Gibbs’ chest the next morning, gently stroking the older man’s stomach up and down, waiting for the older man to finally wake up – they’d both fallen asleep almost immediately after cleaning themselves up, and had slept through the night until 0500 the next morning, where Tony had woken up before Gibbs, wide eyed and ready to do just about anything, even with the lack of mobility his knee gave him. “Stop.” Gibbs mumbled tiredly, lazily swatting Tony’s hand away from his stomach.

 

“But you’re still sleeping… and its 0503… And… Ya’know… Daylight’s a’wastin here!” Tony said excitedly, glancing over at the window which was still dark, since the sun had barely started rising yet.

 

Gibbs cracked an eye open and looked towards the window “Sun isn’t up yet… Neither am I.” Gibbs grumbled as he turned over onto his stomach, pulling the pillow down over his head and falling back to sleep quickly, or at least Tony thought that's what it looked like to him, he had no idea how Gibbs could lay as still as he did, and still look like he was sleeping.

 

Tony sighed as he rolled away from Gibbs and collapsed onto his own side of the bed, huffing out a breath of air “Fine… That’s just fine – I’ll get up, make us some breakfast, and maybe do a little light cleaning…” Tony rambled on aimlessly as he rolled himself to the edge of the bed, but before he could get up, a strong hand wrapped around his wrist.

 

“You won’t be doing either of those things… How do you expect to do any cooking or cleaning when you can hardly stand on your legs as it is?” Gibbs asked, sounding like he’d been awake for hours, rather than just a few minutes.

 

Tony shook his arm free of Gibbs’ grasp and proceeded to get up “I suppose I will find a way… Just because I’ve got lack-a-leg right now, doesn’t mean I can’t do stuff for myself!” Tony said irritably as he used his crutch to bring his shorts up to him, then slowly slid them up one leg then the other, all without falling flat on his face “See look!  I even dressed myself.” Tony said triumphantly.

 

Gibbs lifted his pillow up from his head and sighed “You put your shorts on backwards.” Gibbs pointed out, glancing up at the back of Tony’s head and smirking slightly when he heard the younger man growl in frustration.

 

Tony took a deep breath, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly “So what?  I’m setting a new fashion trend.  Instead of wearing my clothes around my ankles, I’ll wear them backwards!” Tony declared as he situated his crutches underneath his arms and headed towards the door at a slow pace, he hadn’t felt the burning sensation until just a few seconds ago, and although it was a pleasant burn, it definitely did nothing in aiding him to move any faster than a snail.

 

Gibbs shook his head as he got up and found a pair of boxers, slipping them on and realizing they were a bit snug around the waist – realizing belatedly that they probably belonged to Tony, but had _no_ idea how they ended up here, since he’d never seen Tony wearing a pair of boxers in the time that they’d been at his house “So… Let me make breakfast, and if you _think_ something needs to be cleaned – I’ll clean it…” Gibbs stated as he slipped past Tony, definitely weren’t his boxers, they were far too silky feeling on his ass.

 

Tony grinned slightly as he watched Gibbs walking down the hall “You look good in my boxers by the way, perhaps a little tight around the cheeks, but they make your ass look _fabulous_!” Tony said in the gayest voice he could muster as he hobbled after Gibbs, still grinning ear-to-ear when he heard Gibbs growl and mumble something incoherent underneath his breath.

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

**_*!!* One Year Later – Epilogue *!!*_ **

****

Tony and Gibbs grinned at each other as they rode the elevator up, they had just received the _best_ news possible from Tony’s latest Physical Therapist session – and yeah, they were still together, one year and three months almost to the day – and so far they’d managed to even keep their relationship between themselves and Vance.  They never had lingering touches, or looks, and even though Tony had been consulting on cases, technically not under Gibbs’ direct command, tony had a hard time breaking the habit of calling Gibbs ‘boss’ when they were at work, he still worked at his old desk and was still greatly apart of all the MCRT’s work, never replacing Tony or his position, Tony still did what he had when he was the SFA for Gibbs.

 

“This is it…” Tony said as he held his hand outward to Gibbs – they had decided on the way from Bethesda that they would also be publically outing themselves, damned the consequences.

 

Gibbs nodded as he curled his fingers lightly around Tony’s hand, “Yep, no turning back now.” Gibbs said, winking as the steel doors slid open slowly, but before they stepped out, Gibbs pulled Tony back and mashed the ‘shut doors’ button until they closed again, and then hit the emergency button to stop anyone else from using the elevator “Before we go in there…” Gibbs said as he stepped up into Tony’s personal space and took the younger man by the cheeks, leaning in and kissing him lovingly and deeply until both men were breathless.

 

Tony had to bite back the moan of disappointment when Gibbs pulled back and rested his forehead against Tony’s cheek “Whatever happens, I love you Anthony, and what anybody says about us – Their opinion does _not_ matter to me, because this ain’t about them, this is about _us_.” Gibbs said sincerely, but quietly, looking up into Tony’s eyes to convey all the affection and truth behind his words.

 

Tony nodded as he rested his palm on Gibbs’ cheek and brought the older man’s lips closer to him against for a soft, but still none-to-loving kiss and smiled “I know.  And I love you too, Jethro… Doesn’t matter what they think about us, this is our life and we’re living it… Quite happily, I might add.” Tony said softly as he nuzzled his head against the side of Gibbs’ head, “Now, can we go deliver the good news or what?” Tony asked excitedly, glancing towards the steel doors.

 

Gibbs nodded, reaching over to press the button that would restart the elevator, his face still inches from Tony’s and his eyes never leaving Tony’s eyes, “You excited about this?” Gibbs asked as he stepped off the elevator, cautiously watching Tony – despite that after four months, Tony was off the crutches and no longer needed the brace, he still felt uneasy at times.

 

Tony chuckled as he grabbed Gibbs’ hand again and nodded his head “Stop worrying, I’m not going to fall.” Tony assured him, and even though he did walk with a _slight_ limp, there were no indications that nine months ago he’d had total knee replacement.

 

Instead of heading straight to the bullpen like they normally did every morning, only five minutes apart, they headed straight up to Vance’s office, their steps coinciding with one another, as if they were moving as one person instead of two – their hands still linked together, and although they did get a view glances, yet again, nobody seemed willing to say anything – but Tony could tell that the second they entered the privacy of Vance’s outer office, the bullpen was abuzz with speculation of ‘Why are Gibbs and Tony holding hands’ more than likely starting with Tim and Ziva.

 

After sitting, and waiting, for ten minutes, Tony and Gibbs walked into Vance’s office both sporting triumphant grins on their faces “Seems like the two of you have good news?” Vance surmised, looking between the two men, and then their linked hands, smiling slightly at the open love that the two men were finally displaying after being together for so long.

 

Tony nodded enthusiastically, swinging his backpack off his shoulder and procuring a sealed envelope “From my physical therapist, signed by the physician as well.” Tony stated proudly as he handed the envelope to Vance, and then looked at Gibbs with a wide grin.  Tony felt so giddy and light right now he thought he’d float away if it weren’t for his hand being anchored inside of Gibbs’ hand, the only thing keeping him from flying around with utter joy.

 

As Vance read through the doctor’s note, Tony and Gibbs continued glancing between each other and Vance, waiting for the man to finish reading the note.  Gibbs could feel the sweat building up in Tony’s palm, and even the slight tremor of the younger man’s fingers, even he was feeling slightly nervous and it wasn’t even his future on the line here. 

 

There had been a lot of changes over the past year, one of the bigger ones though was that Tony had taken Vance up on his ‘offer’ of going back to school to further his education, and was only a few months away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.  Tony and Gibbs had also moved in together, this was one of their immediate decisions, after finding that sleeping apart was no longer an option, Tony found he slept more comfortably and safely when with Gibbs, and for Gibbs, it was just that added comfort that Tony was there and safe, plus waking up to a groggy, hair-tussled Tony was always a pleasant way to start the morning.

 

Of course, they had their moments of despair and had several fights when things didn’t go the way they had expected.  Mostly it had been Gibbs who would forget to do something, and Tony who would get upset and their arguments would ensue, but the bright side of fighting was the extremely erotic sexual make-up that happened afterwards.  With Gibbs’ help, Tony had overcome his apprehensions of his being gay and now fully embraced his sexuality, Tony had even told his friends – Ducky, Jimmy, Abby, Ziva and Tim – that he was gay, and they had accepted this about him without question, well… They _had_ questions, but still they accepted the biggest change in Tony since, ever.

 

The other positive was that Tony had gone through rigorous months of psychotherapy, and was now nightmare free, and had been for a little over three months – Tony couldn’t have been more thrilled when he was able to sleep without the shadows or screams taunting him awake, except when his therapist told him that he no longer needed the sessions, that was probably more thrilling than not having the nightmares – he hated talking about his feelings and that, but was greatly impressed that the therapist focused on the one reason that Tony was there, and not his childhood or his past experiences as a law enforcement officer.

 

Vance finally looked up from the doctor’s note, a satisfied grin on his face “Congratulations, Agent DiNozzo.  It will surely be a great pleasure to have you back out in the field.” Vance said as he set the note down and pulled out his drawer, withdrawing a gun, badge and credentials, setting them on the desk “These, belong to you.” Vance said, pushing the three items in Tony’s direction.

 

Tony eagerly collected his stuff, clipping his badge and gun to his belt and stuffing his credentials into his inside jacket pocket “Now I feel complete again.  Will I still be on Gibbs’ team or am I to expect a transfer?” Tony asked as he looked directly at Vance.

 

“You’ll still be with Gibbs’ team, I cannot consciously break up the best team in all of NCIS, however… There will be a new team member on your team, at least for a few months, while I find a better placement for him…” Vance said, handing Gibbs a personnel file, “Don’t run him off, Gibbs, he is a good veteran agent, just couldn’t stay at his posting any longer…” Vance added as he stood up and grabbed his cellphone off the desk “Now, I have to go meet with SecNav and inform him of this good news.” Vance said as he headed towards the door, stopping short with Gibbs at the frame “You and I also have to discuss that assignment later.” Vance said quietly, hoping that Tony wouldn’t hear anything.

 

Unfortunately Tony did hear, and once Vance had disappeared, Tony turned to Gibbs with a raised eyebrow “What assignment?” Tony asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he and Gibbs stood on the catwalk above the bullpen.

 

Gibbs shook his head “It’s not important, not right now… Nothing is set in stone yet.” Gibbs said distractedly as he read through the personnel file “Huh… Seems that Callen is joining us.  Says here he’s leaving the LA office for personal reasons…” Gibbs mused as he walked down the stairs back to the bullpen, leaving Tony to stare at him with a gaping mouth and a lot more questions than answers at this point, but Tony would leave it for now – knowing he could corner Gibbs at the house later on.

 

* * *

 

Tony, having let the conversation of this mysterious assignment go, came down into the bullpen, “So, you and Gibbs?” Ziva asked as soon as Tony appeared between the partitions.

 

Tony nodded as he walked over to his desk, depositing his gun and badge in the top drawer, hoping the conversation would shift from his and Gibbs’ relationship to the fact that he now had weapon and badge again “You’ve got your stuff back?” Tim asked, and Tony grinned, ever thankful that his probie had come in for the rescue.

 

“Sure did!  I’ll be back out into the field with you guys on the next call, and every call that follows!” Tony said proudly, shooting a winning smile to Ziva, Tim and even Gibbs who still had his nose buried in the personnel file, but was definitely sporting a small smile.

 

Tim and Ziva both grumbled playfully, but then came over to Tony and offered their congratulations with a hug – and in Tim’s case, a handshake – “That is so great Tony, it has been rather… quiet… without your running comments in the field.” Ziva said with a cheery grin on her face.

 

“Commentary, Ziva.” Tony corrected out of habit, then nodded “It is great though, because now I can actually feel like I’m contributing something more than just being a fly on the wall and listening into you guys working cases around me.” Tony said in a more sedated tone, glancing around the bullpen briefly.

 

“You always contributed Tony.  Never been one to just sit there quietly and listen.  How many cases did you solve from just sitting behind your desk and listening to these two discuss the case?” Gibbs asked from across the room, finally having set down the personnel file and looking between his three agents.

 

Tony shrugged noncommittally “I don’t know, probably five… Maybe?  I don’t keep count of how many ‘The partner did it’ cases that I correctly predicted.” Tony said as he leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly.

 

Tony should have known that his return to active field-duty wouldn’t have lasted long though, because now Ziva and Tim were looking between Tony and Gibbs “Okay… Get it out of your system, ask your questions.” Tony said abruptly, sitting up at his desk again and linking his hands together at his stomach.

 

Ziva and Tim exchanged a quick look between one another “How long have you two been dating?  Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Ziva launched first, almost sounding like Abby would when finding out something really exciting – The fact that they hadn’t told anyone, including Abby, was going to be a tough pill to swallow, but Tony also knew that Abby knowing how he felt about Gibbs, would quickly put the pieces together and wouldn’t be nearly as hurt, not like how Ziva looked hurt, or even Tim for that matter.  Ducky would just take their new relationship in stride, congratulate them and run off at the mouth about the olden days of Scotland or a friend who'd been in a similar situation, and Jimmy, well, Jimmy would probably just blush and stammer like he always did whenever Gibbs was in the vicinity, or they even mentioned Gibbs’ name.

 

“We’ve been dating for close to a year and three months… And we didn’t want to tell anyone, except this morning… When we found out that I would be able to return to full-duty, we thought everyone should know what we meant to one another – not that it would change the facts of our relationship in the field, we’ll still protect you guys.” Tony said with a grin, looking between Ziva and Tim.

 

Ziva rolled her eyes, Tim shook his head “We have no doubts that you guys would change how we work outside of the office.  It’s just a bit of a surprise, really – I mean, we’re happy for you, of course… but, we’re like family… We thought that you would have told us sooner.” Tim said quietly, and Tony sighed because Tim really did sound more hurt than even his facial expressions let on, which actually made Tony proud that McGee was no longer wearing his heart on his sleeve.

 

Tony stood up and set a hand on each of his colleagues’ shoulders “I, and Gibbs, both apologize for not having told you sooner – We should have, you’re right… But, we just wanted to have the relationship to ourselves… It took a lot for us to admit how we felt, and we’re still ironing out a lot of the intricate little details of who we are as a couple.  We are, however, glad that you both know now, and we don’t have to hide who we are.” Tony said in a rather professional manner, squeezing the two’s shoulders as he sat back down and turned to his computer “Now, get back to work – We do still have an active murder investigation opened, and those suspects won’t find themselves.” Tony said as he began tapping away mindlessly at his keyboard, pulling up whatever information he could on the case.

 

Gibbs shook his head slightly, thinking that perhaps he needed to discuss with Vance about Tony’s position as an SFA – He knew that Tony was more than ready to become more than just a senior field agent, but also knew that Tony would never take a position outside of his team, there had to be a workaround to getting what both him and Tony wanted, especially with their relationship becoming a publically known thing in the office, things would start turning sour, and Gibbs hated confrontation, well… He hated confrontation that could be avoided with a few T’s and I’s crossed and dotted properly, so he mentally added that to his to-do list, along with the conversation of the assignment, which, now with Tony back in the field again, he thought he would be able to take on, because now he could have Tony with him during the mission and not have to trust someone else with watching his six – That was the _only_ reason he’d been holding out on accepting, he _wanted_ … no, _needed_ Tony there, because he didn’t trust anyone else when it came down to life or death situations like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, this is the finale of Undercover. As you all can tell, I have left it open-ended, as there WILL more than likely be a sequel to accompany this... Hell there might even be more than one sequel to accompany this, I'll let you know in the future! ;)
> 
> So, tell me what you thought of the story! What you would LIKE to see coming with the sequel. I am trying /really/ hard to improve my CaseFic writings, so any hints towards the future would be most appreciated!!! I of course already have -some- ideas, but who knows? If you think you have a better idea, I am all ears and willing to take flight with what you got!


End file.
